You'd be Surprised
by VampireGaaraCheesepuffs
Summary: Naruto's mask is slipping, and it's slipping fast. If he doesn't get a hold of it soon, everyone may become aware of just how bad his life really is. But perhaps someone noticing him is the cure for his despair. Pairings explanation and info on my profile. Complete!
1. Transformations

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, if I did I would not degrade myself by doing whatever my mum feels like making me do for extra money T-T (I hate chores)**

**Opening note- Okay, the inspiration for this story actually came from a review for my Twilight story "What She Didn't See" in which my reviewer (Scrapmypieces) said she couldn't believe how blind the characters were for not seeing what Bella was going through and I answered "You'd be surprised by how much people don't see because they don't WANT to see it" And that's just me speaking from experience. So, my mind just started writing this story! : D **

_**Beta-ed: September 22, 2009 by peaceandserenity94 (Love the b-day present mi amiga chica :P)!**_

Chapter 1: Transformations

~*~

_Hey Boys, Hey Girls,_

_Hey Anybody who will listen to me_

_In case you haven't noticed_

_It's just me against the world today_

~ Me vs the World by Halo Friendlies

~*~

The alarm clock of the 16 year old blonde rang shrilly from beside his bed. The noise was loud enough to wake anyone within a five mile radius, but it was useless considering the boy was already awake. He'd been awake since 4 am, when nightmares had ripped him from his peaceful state of unconsciousness. Changing into the monster everyone feared you were and killing your precious ones is enough to wake anyone up. It also didn't help that memories of late night beatings had somehow been thrown into the mix. Naruto groaned, dragging his sleep cap down to cover his eyes from the now blinding rays of sun coming through his window, hoping to block out the images now swirling in his mind. The alarm next to his ear was getting anxious, the beep's pitch slightly altered due to prolonged use.

Finally, the angered blonde slapped the machine, causing the alarm to give a small squeak before becoming silent. He had two choices. One, he could stay in bed, skip practice, and stare at the ceiling all day; or two, get his sorry butt out of bed, into the shower (if he still had running water), and go to practice with a fake smile on his face just like he had done the day before, and every day before that.

Choice number one wasn't really an option. Sakura or Sasuke-teme would hunt him down and ask annoying questions. His mask would be in jeopardy, meaning what little stability in the relationships he shared with the two would be at risk too.

He'd already lost the teme once, pushing him to dig his own grave that much faster with every step he took further into the darkness of despair. After spending three years training to be strong enough to drag his only true friend back, it turned out to be all for naught. Sasuke had almost succeeded in killing Itachi, only to find from a previously unknown member of Akatsuki named Tobi, also known as Mandara, that Itachi had been given a mission to kill their family by the elders. Hearing this, the teen was ready to join Akatsuki so that he may get his revenge on Konoha, only to be stopped by his brother. The older Uchiha took Sasuke as far away from this other Akatsuki member and convinced him it was for the best. After much persuasion, Sasuke finally came to agree, and returned to Konoha. Itachi too returned and was welcome with open arms, though less openly so as he was placed under suspension whereas his little brother was now on active duty as a part of team 7.

That being said, there was no way that Naruto could skip practice, leaving only the inevitable: choice number two. With another groan, the spiky headed teen propped himself up on his elbow while simultaneously swinging his feet off the edge of the bed and onto the cool wood floor below. Standing to his feet, the blonde was struck with a wave of dizziness and a pounding headache, both of which he shook off. Getting less than 3 hours of sleep did that to a person. Not eating since lunch the day before didn't help either. Groggily, the boy dragged himself through the small, run-down apartment that he had called home for as long as he could live on his own to the bathroom. The door was already open, revealing a simple nondescript bathroom…or at least it had started that way. Now, the cream tiled floor was partly stained red from times when he'd staggered in after a particularly bad beating when he was young, the small bathtub had a layer of lime he'd never gotten around to cleaning, the marble sink had a large crack running through the center where he'd pounded his fist angrily the night he'd been released from the hospital after Sasuke abandoned the village, the small toilet's cover had been ripped clean off. Somehow, the mirror remained intact, though it happened to be the only object not broken in some way. With a sigh, Naruto dragged himself the last few step to the bath, where he turned the faucet with mentally crossed fingers.

"Joy! I actually have water." The boy muttered under his breath. "No heat, I see. I needed to wake up anyway."

Ever the optimistic, Naruto didn't let himself think about the elevated utilities bill he paid, even though he still didn't receive warm water, and instead stripped himself of the boxers he'd slept in and stepped into the shower. With tense shoulders, the teen flipped the small tab redirecting the water up to the shower head and prepared himself for the onslaught of cold water.

The blonde swore in a carefully controlled yell as an onslaught of ice cold droplets struck his perfectly toned back. Without skipping a beat, Naruto grabbed at the shampoo bottle, pouring a small amount of the expensive liquid in his hand, before placing it back where it previously stood at the edge of his tub. He'd hardly begun to lather his hair when he knocked the bottle over sending it and the other bath materials over the edge. Again he swore. Bending over to pick up the dropped supplies, he stopped. Among the things that he had dropped was his razor blade. Ever so slowly, the teen picked the sharp blades up with gentle fingers, as if he felt the blades would break between his fingers. Subconsciously, his other hand twitched and the old scar on his wrist became more pronounced. Looking down toward his thigh, he stared at the long line of self-inflicted cuts. Making a decision, the teen put the razor back in its place and continued to pick up the other things he'd dropped.

"The cut wouldn't stop bleeding in time." The boy muttered to himself as if trying to convince him of his choice. "And the fox wouldn't stop it."

**Like hell I would!**

_I wasn't talking to you!_

**I am aware of that; I was just reminding you that I won't heal you if you hurt yourself.**

Naruto growled aloud, but otherwise didn't reply. He remembered that fact all too well after cutting his wrist the very first time. He had been forced to wear his long sleeved jacket the following two weeks diligently and carefully make sure his wrist was never exposed to anyone's view. In Shikamaru's words, it was very troublesome. Since then, the boy had taken to cutting his legs. After all, far fewer people would see his upper thigh, and those who did would just assume they were battle scars. However, he still had to play the game carefully, since even if everyone assumed they were battle scars all would still remain curious as to why the fox hadn't healed them. Naruto sighed. It seemed that annoying questions followed him wherever he turned.

After finishing up, Naruto was glad to finally get out of the direct line of freezing water. Wrapping a towel around his waist, the boy exited the bathroom in search of clothes. When he came to his closet, he let out another sigh. Bright orange clothing burned his eyes, giving him little choice of variety. He didn't remember the exact day the villagers would only allow him to buy orange, but he did remember how happy he'd been to be able to buy any new clothes at all. Now however, he'd grown to despise his wardrobe. It came to be the living proof of the hate he suffered every day, the very outfit was a target on his back not only to enemy ninja, but for the cold gazes of the people he'd sworn to protect. What is more, he hated himself for not seizing the chance for a brand new set of clothes when he'd been traveling with Jiraiya. Instead, he'd acted like a coward, too afraid that the change would alert those he cared for that he hated the color orange. He had lied to them for so long, even the smartest shinobi were starting to believe the neon color was his favorite. A person couldn't tear down a charade that long in the making and not expect some consequences. No, Naruto hadn't wanted to deal with that, instead sticking to his dreaded orange but at with slightly less bright. Dragging on his orange pants and black t-shirt, he draped his jacket over his shoulder, not bothering to put it on, and added the finishing touch: his headband. Once again he sighed, staring at the leaf symbol on his head in the mirror. The head band Iruka had given him when he had graduated had the fabric worn through, forcing him to replace it. This newer head band seemed less symbolic of his struggle to get where he was now.

With nothing left to do, Naruto grabbed his weapons case and walked out the door without bothering to lock it behind him. What did he have to steal, anyway?

T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_; T-T;_;: D

Sasuke Uchiha stood leaned against the bridge he and his teammates had been meeting at to train since they'd become genin. As usual, the raven haired teen had arrived first meaning he had a good half hour to an hour's wait before his teammates showed up, let alone Kakashi. Sasuke had been in an extra rush to get out of his house this morning, seeing as his brother had taken to questioning him about every detail of Sasuke's life that he had missed. Having never been talkative in the first place, the younger Uchiha was defiantly uneasy about the whole situation making mornings at the Uchiha complex…awkward to say the least. This morning had been no exception, but rather had been even more awkward as Itachi had made Sasuke a bento box, making him feel required to reveal something about himself. So on his way out, the boy had mentioned liking cats, and then proceeded to get as far away as possible. Now, the teen was regretting his decision to say anything at all, since he had a very bad feeling that there was going to be a cat on his bed when he got home.

Thankfully Sasuke didn't have to think about his new cat for long, seeing as his teammate and only true friend, Naruto had walked up.

"Morning, teme!" The blonde grinned cheerily, giving a small greeting wave.

"Dobe." The other grunted in reply.

"Teme! Why are you here so early anyway? You know Kakashi won't be here for another hour." Again the other teen grunted, then answered,

"Itachi acting like a mother hen again." Sasuke never mentioned his home life, he especially didn't mention how his used-to-be S-classed criminal brother almost literally fawned over him…at least as much as an Uchiha could fawn over someone. Naruto was the exception, however, and thus the raven haired had taken to venting his frustrations to the other. After all, Sasuke was _very_ frustrated at the sudden closeness of his brother. He'd only recently come to terms with the fact that he'd wasted his whole life trying to kill the only family he had left, and the fact that his brother was so _caring_ annoyed him. Had it been the other way around, Sasuke would've been angry at the village, angry that he couldn't have spent any time with his only family, but instead here Itachi was trying to make up for lost time. Naruto snickered.

"That explains the bento box!" Sasuke looked down to his feet where he'd half hidden the homemade bento box with his legs and sighed.

"Baka."

"Teme! Did Itachi pack you a little love letter too?" Naruto added still snickering.

"Jealous because no one would ever make _you _a bento box?" The second the words left Sasuke's mouth, he regretted them. The blonde's face, which had previously been alive with laughter, changed in a matter of seconds. A single final laugh died on his lips as his mouth fell into a frown. At once bright blue eyes dimmed, and they too fell to look at the floor. Sasuke opened his mouth to apologize when he was interrupted.

"GOOD MORNING SASUKE-KUN! HEY NARUTO!" Sakura called as she walked over to where they stood. Instantly, the blonde changed again. His head snapped upwards, a giant grin on his face, but it wasn't the same. Naruto's pure blue eyes were still slightly dimmed and the smile didn't reach them. Sakura was sure not to notice, but Sasuke did.

"GOOD MORNING, SAKURA-CHAN!" He greeted back waving similarly to her as he had done to Sasuke earlier. The pink haired girl smiled back, but then turned her attention to Sasuke. Their other teammate had grown warmer towards Naruto since Sasuke's disappearance, and since his return she'd been nothing but friendly to the blonde. That didn't change the fact, however, that now that Sasuke was back she paid a lot less attention to the other teen than she had previously. Not that Sasuke blamed her per se, she did admit she still had feelings for him; it just got on the Uchiha's nerves to see their other member feeling like the third wheel.

"Morning, Dickless." Of course, there was Sai.

"TEME! I told you to stop calling me that!" Sasuke glared at their fourth team member. The ex-root member had been his replacement after all, and now that he had returned his presence robbed the team of any peace they may have had being a team like they used to be. Tsunade-sama was very clear though that Sai was to remain part of team 7 until new arrangements could be made. Besides, apparently Sai_ liked_ team 7 and was trying to learn the meaning of friendship bonds. Sasuke's other two teammates informed him that the other raven haired teen was much better than he once was, causing Sasuke to believe that the teen had been utterly hopeless with emotions before now. As if sensing his train of though, Sai sent Sasuke what he perceived to be a fake smile, though it could've been true for all the latter knew.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke twitched at the added suffix. He had no idea where the jerk got the idea that he could call him that, and it was annoying enough that Sakura called him that, let alone this friend-wannabe. "Nice bento box, who's it from?"

Sasuke's eyes flickered to Naruto waiting for the blonde's outburst. Normally Naruto would take any chance to embarrass his teammate in front of team 7, as long as he felt it wasn't personal enough to have crossed a line. Today, however, Naruto stayed silent, his eyes focused on the water below instead of meeting Sasuke's eye contact. With one raised eyebrow at Naruto's reaction, he turned back to Sai and shrugged.

"I had extra time this morning, so I made one." Sai obviously knew that wasn't true, but his book had said if a friend lies to you about something trivial it's best not to insist on the truth, said friend will come to you if it's important. After that, the team commenced in some small talk. Of course, Sasuke, who had already said more than he would usually say in an entire day, took no part in the small talk other than to nod or grunt in the appropriate places, and instead studied his blonde friend. Naruto too did not take part in the small talk, which for him was a very rare occurrence indeed. Said teen had sat down on the bridge, his legs dangling above the river below, with his head leaned against the cool metal of the bridge with shut eyes. By the time Sakura had noticed Naruto was not in the little group the other team members had formed, let alone adding to the conversation, Naruto looked as if he had fallen asleep. She therefore decided not to question him, assuming he just hadn't got much sleep the night before. It had happened more than once before, especially when Sasuke had still been at Orochimaru's.

Naruto, however, was not asleep and Sasuke was very aware of that fact. Never had he seen Naruto remove himself from a conversation. After all, he was practically screaming for attention with every move he made. Seeing the blonde so reserved put the Uchiha on edge and alert for any sighs that may signify why his friend was so out of it this morning. Sasuke didn't get to study as long as he wished. The group hadn't been talking for but half an hour when a puff of smoke signified Kakashi's arrival.

"Yo!" Their sensei greeted from where he balanced on the bridge's edge.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Both Sakura and Naruto accused, though Naruto's accusation was a lot weaker and lacked the feeling that he truly cared whether Kakashi was late or not.

"Yes, well you see I actually have an excuse! Now if I can just find where I wrote it down…" The silver haired jounin muttered as he patted the many pockets on his jounin vest.

"LIAR!" Sakura yelled again, a nerve visible on her forehead. Naruto, who would usually be yelling along with her said nothing, but did pull himself up from where he sat.

"Ah ha!" The male exclaimed, retrieving a piece of parchment from his pocket. "Well today is a very special day! It seems that Sasuke has been promoted to jounin!"

"NO WAY!" Sakura squealed. "OH! I _KNEW_ Sasuke-kun would be the first one of us to be jounin! I can't believe they let you skip the chunin exam all together!" Sasuke, who was too surprised and still studying Naruto, didn't even resist as his female teammate glomped him. What the male did care about was Naruto's reaction to the news. Instead of congratulating his best friend, the blonde had frowned and clenched his hands into fists. As Sasuke stared at his friend, Naruto did the third transformation of the day. Suddenly, Naruto too was on Sasuke.

"CONGRATS TEME! What are you going to wear with your new jounin vest?" The blonde grinned and joked happily, and had Sasuke not just seen the blonde's previous reaction he never would have doubted that the other teen was truly happy for him. But he _had_ seen Naruto, and now the raven haired individual couldn't shake the image from his mind.

"Congratulations indeed Sasuke-kun, it is no easy feat to be allowed to skip the chunin level." Unable to really reply because he was so fixated Naruto and slightly suffocating because of Sakura's hug, Sasuke just grunted.

"Okay, okay! I know we're all happy for Sasuke, so to celebrate, let's skip practice today and meet up for some barbeque for dinner." Kakashi-sensei interrupted, sending the happy group an eye smile.

"Great! That gives me enough time to get Sasuke-kun a present!" Sakura all but squealed again.

"Then it's settled, everyone's dismissed." With that, Kakashi disappeared in another puff of smoke, leaving the teens to continue celebrating. Their sensei had barely left, however, when Naruto waved good bye to the group.

"Well, I gotta go find something for the teme!" The blonde waved without turning as he walked away.

"So long, Dickless. I guess I'll be leaving too." The pale teen said walking the opposite direction Naruto had just gone. As much as Sasuke wanted to follow Naruto, he couldn't, as Sakura refused to let go.

"What kind of present do you want Sasuke-kun?" Sakura gushed, completely unaware that the male wished to leave. In reply, Sasuke grunted, finally breaking out of the pinky's grasp. "Ne, Sasuke, where are you going?" Without replying, the raven haired picked up his bento box, which had almost been forgotten, and walked as quickly as possible, without actually breaking into a run, in the direction the blonde had gone.

**AND THERE'S CHAPTER 1! : D Pretty long for me! (At least as a first chapter) I hope there are not too many grammar mistakes (I spell checked it and read over it, but I'm only human………or so we believe)**

**Okay, so I need to have a vote:**

**Do you like the story? Yes or No**

**Who do you think Naruto should be paired with? NaruHina or NaruSasu? (Yaoi or Straight?)**

**Either way with the pairing, Sasuke will play a major role in the story (as much as I despise him -_-) but I need to know if it's just friendship or love or whatever.**

**WE NEED YOU TO VOTE!!! (Don't ask who we are, I'm not quite sure myself) Think of it as your reader duty XD**

**So review with your answers!!!**


	2. Off

**Disclaimer- Naruto is not of my making, cuz if it was Sasuke would prob have been killed off within the first 10 eps ^^'**

**THANKS TO: **kutoki, blueorange, Flightless Bird, Bettybrite, Kingkakashi, Holen-Snape, ImTooLazyToThinkOfAPenName, UchihaUzumaki baby, KagomeGirl021, LovelySinner7, starlightscribe, madamadadanechibisuke, CrimsonPleasure, and last but not least: Moiraine Damodred fan **FOR REVIEWING AND CASTING THEIR VOTES!!!**

**ALSO MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^**

**My apology for taking so long to update is in the author's note at the end -_-'**

**Which by the way! You should read, because I put in some info you may/may not wanna read!**

Chapter 2: Off

~*~

_Every move you make_

_Every vow you break_

_Every smile you fake_

_Every claim you stake_

_I'll be watching you._

~Every Breath You Take by Police

~*~

It is very well known that the line between "stalking" and "shadowing obsessedly" is so thin a line that it indeed seems invisible to the naked eye. Hinata Hyuuga, however, felt she knew what was crossing said line very well. (Then again, Hinata Hyuuga had very good eyes.)

That being said, Hinata felt she had yet to cross that same line as she watched one Naruto Uzumaki train for behind a large oak tree. In no way could this be considered stalking, at least in her opinion, because she had not followed him here, she just happened on to him by chance. For one thing, the blonde wasn't even in an actual training field. The boy was in the forest, hitting a tree with everything he had. Could Hinata be _blamed_ for having stopped to watch the blonde? She had been previously been looking for flowers and herbs for her medical ointments that she made in her spare time, a task that was far less entertaining or attention grabbing than seeing Naruto train. (It may also be prevalent to add that that same girl could also not be blamed for the fact that he was training shirtless.)

Even though the Hyuuga heiress felt that she had not yet crossed that thin line, she was extremely relieved that she didn't have a stalker of her own this fine, sunny day. Usually, her father had a branch member trail her whenever she went on any kind of expedition, even one as small as this one that was barely outside village limits. Today, however, she'd convinced her cousin to convince him otherwise. (One might think it'd have been simpler to go straight to her father to ask, but if one was to take in account the time wasted by Hinata running away at the last second and stuttering you'd see that going through Neji was infinitely quicker, though far less entertaining.) The white eyed girl would certainly be in trouble if she was found watching the teen boy…again. Her father had a hissy fit, for lack of a better description of his conniption, when he'd been given a report that included a detailed description of his daughter staring at a blonde boy with a blush on her face for the entirety of said boy's daily training. Hiashi was heard throughout the compound as he lectured her about indecently watching a member of the opposite sex when she was suppose to be a symbol of the clan as heiress. (Thankfully Hinata never was one for talking, for she may have had the urge to interrupt with the well known fact that many already considered the Hyuugas to be perverts due to the very nature of their eyes, and those eyes' abilities.) That being said, it didn't take more than a couple of seconds for Hinata to realize she was forbidden from ever "stalking" the boy again.

It's easy to see, this ban didn't stop her.

So there she was; lost in thoughts about how he father would react to the current occupation of her time. She, however, did not get to dwell on those thoughts much longer as a loud scream of frustration brought her harshly back into reality.

Finally the blonde Uzumaki had ceased from hitting the tree that he'd been punching since she'd commenced her watch, and had fallen to the ground in what she guessed to be exhaustion. After all, in all the time Hinata had known Naruto, he didn't stop training willingly unless he was to the point he could barely stand. (It helps convey just how certain Hinata was of this inference by saying that the Hyuuga girl had known the boy in question since their days in the academy and she had "obsessedly shadowed" him for near that many years.) As she continued to observe him she also noted that his hands were bleeding, unsurprisingly so considering the damage he'd made to the tree, and felt the pull within her to go help him. Still, Hinata mentally held herself back, unwanting the attention she'd receive if she abruptly walked from her shelter behind the tree and into his visibility, and thus reverted back to pushing her forefingers up against one another. (A habit she'd long ago thought she'd gotten rid of that consistently returned during stressing or nerve racking situations, making those around look at her weirdly because, after all, it _is_ a peculiar habit.)

As she willed herself to become rooted the ground, another sound caught her attention. At first one would pass it off as a hiccup or a soft groan of pain, guessing the noise was just muffled by the ground the young man was lying face down on. However, the noise continued and worry began to fill the Hyuuga girl. Sure enough, the sound become distinct sobs as the blonde righted himself shakily onto his side, before they were again muffled when he burrowed his head into his knees as he brought them to his chest.

Naruto had always found new ways to shock the Hyuuga heiress, but this was on an entirely different level of surprise. She had not once seen her love cry, though she was sure he had at one point. Yet, there he was, not 15 feet in front of her, sobbing in the fetal position. Her forefingers shook as they remained pressed against one another, frozen in mid action and no longer concentrating on being rooted to the ground, she took a single step forward.

"I know you're there." Naruto's clear, albeit a bit hoarse, voice rang through the opening shocking Hinata so much that she was indeed pulled out of her previous shock. As he spoke, the young man's face had turned to face her at the edge of the clearing. The fact that Naruto, a trained shinobi, had sensed Hinata who was in plain site, wasn't what had shocked the young girl. What in fact shocked her was the lack of tears or puffiness of the eyes that were coincident with crying; however, she had no doubt the earlier noises she'd heard were sobs.

Now that she'd been caught, she wasted no time making her way across the clearing to her crush, though she became hesitant as she sat next to him. Now within arm's length she could see the extent of how tired Naruto seemed. The boy's whiskered cheeks had sunken into face since she'd last seen him, more than could be considered healthy, though certainly not enough for one to become alarmed. Rings of black had formed beneath his eyes and had the smallest of red lines streaking the outer white of eyes. But for active ninja that was to be expected after long missions or harsh training, and the one thing that truly frightened her was how dead the boy's eyes seemed to be. The cerulean eyes of Uzumaki Naruto shined in the darkest of days, and were small beacons of hope to all those with lonely eyes that things did not have to be that way. Now they seemed to be enveloped in a fog.

As alarming as that lost of light was, physically the boy seemed in perfect condition. The lack of clothing on his upper body allowed the girl to easy see that he still had layers of muscle that tensed with each breath and movement he made, as well as a tan washboard stomach.

"Does my being half naked bother you?"¹

Instantaneously the girl's face shot up and a loud squeak of embarrassment escaped her mouth. Naruto's mouth curved into a mischievous smirk as he chuckled evilly. Red spread across Hinata's checks like the plague and again her fingers began to press against each other.

"Aw, don't be embarrassed Hinata! I know I'm f-ing smexy!" Again the fox like boy laughed, though now that her embarrassment began to die off she could tell that it was halfhearted, if best.

"Um, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…um…"

"Aw, come on Hinata! You can ask me anything!" The boy's eyes closed and a forced smile crossed his features, fueling her need for the answer to the question she'd been attempting to ask.

"What's wrong?" As innocent as her words had been, the blonde next to her tensed. The mask fell ungracefully from his face, leaving a surprised and confused young man.

"What do you mean?"

"I was, um, watching you, um, train—"

"Oh! That's nothing! I just have to get stronger! _Teme_," the word came harshly between grit teeth, "is already becoming a _jounin_. Can you imagine _that_?"

The clearing had become silent after Naruto spoke, and the air was thick with the emotions of both parties. On Hinata's side anxiety, surprise, and worry caused her fingers to quicken as they fought against each one another, just as she fought herself to say something, though they pushed with equal force. Naruto's words, however, had made emotions more fearsome and worrisome come to view: anger, betrayal, hurt. What was truly frightening was that the boy had been speaking of his own teammate who he had once dedicated his life to returning him to the village.

Finally, the pregnant silence was broken. What was truly surprising was the fact that for once it was not by the noisy blonde.

"Na-naruto-kun…shouldn't you be happy for Sasuke-san?"

Again, the white-eyed girl's words were innocent, and the question was justified due to the shocking nature of his previous response. Still, the blonde's face twisted into one of pure pain as though she'd physically hurt him. Once more there was silence, save for a couple birds that flew from the trees beside them. The sound of fluttering wings seemed to snap the young man from whatever had been troubling him, however, because when he'd opened his eyes Hinata could tell something had changed.

"Of course I am, Hinata-chan! Ne, ne! That reminds me, I've been out here for a while, and it's probably almost time for our celebration dinner!" Suddenly, he swore and jumped to his feet. "I still need to buy Sasuke-teme a present!" The blonde boy looked down at a shocked Hinata, and she could see that his eyes were still as dull as they'd been when she first reached him, despite the energy in his voice. Naruto must have sensed her confusion, because his smile fell and was replaced by a smaller, sadder one.

"It was really nice talking to you Hinata. We'll need to have a conversation like this again." Had anyone else heard his reply, they wouldn't have thought anything of it. Hinata, however, heard the need in the blonde's voice and for the n number of times that day, she was surprised.

"Ha—hai." The whiskered boy's mask fell back into place and he gave her the "good guy" pose before trotting off into the forest.

O.o o.O O.O o.o O_o o_O O_O o_o Oo oO OO oo :O O: OoO oOo O.o o.O O.O o.o O_o o_O O_O o_o Oo oO OO oo :O O: OoO oOo -_-''''

Sasuke stopped to swear when he still hadn't found his best friend after an hour's worth of searching. He'd searched all of Konoha from the Hokage's faces to the village's exit. He'd gone to Naruto's house, the ramen stand, and every training ground and he _still_ hadn't even seen anyone he'd seen him! The raven haired teen sighed, his fists clenching and unclenching in irritation. The only place left to check was outside the village and there was no point in him standing here doing nothing. Without further ado, the jounin ran at top speed towards Konoha's exit.

: P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P: P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P ; P : P O.o

The Uchiha had been about ready to throw in the towel when he heard talking.

"Na-naruto-kun…shouldn't you be happy for Sasuke-san?"

Said mentioned boy tensed. Whoever it was speaking was talking about him…to Naruto. Pivoting on his heel, the boy raced toward the voice at a speed even trained shinobi strained to accomplish. Sasuke was jumping through the trees so fast, in fact, that when he reached the clearing he had to grab onto the branch above him to make sure he wasn't visible to the two below. Though he went unnoticed by the people in the clearing, his presence was not ignored by the birds previously sitting the branch he'd landed on and they flew up into the sky.

The youngest surviving member of the Uchiha clan frowned. As he'd previously heard, it was indeed Naruto in the clearing with none other than Hinata Hyuuga. Thinking back at the question he'd heard earlier, he shouldn't have been surprised it was Hinata, due to the stuttering in the question. Still, the fact that she'd struck up the courage to talk to her obvious crush by herself was surprising. An unfamiliar feeling stirred within him, but he pushed it from his mind. Naruto had opened his eyes and begun talking.

"Of course I am, Hinata-chan! Ne, ne! That reminds me, I've been out here for a while, and it's probably almost time for our celebration dinner!" Sasuke's only true friend jumped up and swore bringing a smile to the raven's face, though he felt there was something off about the whole ordeal.

"I still need to buy Sasuke-teme a present!" At that, Sasuke was getting ready to leave, content with seeing he was no longer upset and having decided he'd question Naruto about what had upset him in the first place later. But before he could go, he saw the blonde's mood change as rapidly as it had this morning.

"It was really nice talking to you Hinata. We'll need to have a conversation like this again."

Again, something was wrong. Sasuke thought he knew Naruto better than anybody and he'd only heard him use this town of voice when something was extremely serious. Life or Death serious. The Uchiha's brows furrowed as he stared intently at the other teen, uncaring if he sensed him or not. The blue eyed boy in turn seemed intent on Hinata, or rather intent on her reply. For the first time, Sasuke noticed that the other boy's hand was bleeding and he caught sight of a tree which had been recently pulverized.

"Ha—hai." Hinata finally replied, making Sasuke's head snap back to the Hyuuga. She too seemed uneasy. The blonde standing above stuck his thumb out in a "good guy" pose before dashing off into the forest.

Sasuke paused, giving the blonde boy a head start, and then the new jounin too dashed back towards Konoha, though not to follow the blonde. Sasuke had to think.

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Sasuke had planned on going somewhere quiet he could think, however that wasn't an option when he realized he only had half an hour before it was time for his "celebration" dinner. Instead, he decided to settle for going home and hoping he was lucky and that his aniki wasn't there.

"Hello Little Brother."

Apparently Lady Luck was not one of his fangirls.

"Hey Itachi," the raven haired boy sighed, and then tensed. "What's that?"

Just as he'd earlier predicted, there indeed was a cat in their house, more specifically in Itachi's lap. Though he was not a currently active ninja, Itachi normally had an air about him that warned anyone within a five mile radius that he was not someone to meddle with, however, that whole image was destroyed in Sasuke's eyes, seeing as he was currently sitting in a bathrobe, stroking a small kitten.

"He is a kitten, the young form of a cat."

"I'm not stupid, what is _it_ doing _here_?" His brother smirked at his younger brother's annoyance, and the younger teen scowled.

"_He_ is the newest member of the Uchiha clan."

"IT'S A CAT!"

"Cat's are quite intelligent otouto." Sasuke glared at the older male.

"Please don't tell me you just got it because I said I liked cats."

"Perhaps." Again, the younger Uchiha scowled, and he began to march out of the room, but his brother stood to block his way. "Any news?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. It was obvious he'd have to tell his brother that he'd become a jounin eventually, if he didn't already know so, but he had other things occupying his mind and didn't have to patience to deal with his older brother at the moment. Still, the look on Itachi's face told the younger sharingan wielder he wasn't going anywhere, and he knew that Itachi could keep him there by force if that's what the situation came to…even if he was holding a struggling cat.

"I've been promoted to jounin." He finally replied, begrudgingly.

"You don't sound happy about it." Sasuke shrugged, hoping that snippet of information was enough get his brother to move, but Itachi continued. "Is something bothering you…or perhaps someone?"

The shorter teen glared again, somewhat shocked that he had known. Itachi smirked at his brother's reaction, stepping aside to grant him passage while simultaneously handing him the cat.

"That was all I needed to know. He still needs a name by the way." Still glaring at his aniki, Sasuke walked through the doorway as quickly as possible and closed the door to his room behind him with a snap. Once again, he sighed as he dropped onto his bed. Angrily the cat in his arms meowed and began to struggle out of the raven haired's grasp. Annoyed, he held the cat above his head and watched it struggle once more.

"Stupid cat," he muttered as it stopped struggling. The kitten was extremely small, smaller than he would've expected a kitten to be, and couldn't be more than a couple of months old. Its tan fur was soft in his hands and big blue eyes stared back at him angrily. Again, the kitten began to struggle, staring with determined eyes to get out of the shinobi's hands though it was obviously impossible. The sides of the boy's mouth twitched with amusement at the cat's effort, unable to not be reminded of someone else just as stubborn. After a couple of more seconds, the kitten seemed ready to give up, but with one last effort it scratched the Uchiha's hand.

"Ow!" Taking advantage of Sasuke's loosened grip, the cat jumped with ease onto the bed right beside his head. With one flick of his tail, right at Sasuke's face might I add, the cat jumped from the bed and onto the ground. The onyx eyed boy swore as he sat up, glaring at the cat. Said kitten didn't even look at him as he explored the new room with curiosity. Again, Sasuke couldn't help but smile a bit.

"I'll call you Na…to. Nato²." In response, the newly crowned Nato meowed. Taking that as an okay, the raven haired boy sat up and began getting ready for the dinner he was suppose to go to in 15 minutes.

"I never should have said anything to Itachi."

¹ - Quotation by Jacob Black, owned by Stephenie Meyer : P

² - Nato means a lot of things. It's a Japanese bean (apparently it tastes disgusting too), it stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (from WWII), but the main reason I used it cuz I just took out the ru from Naruto XD (Actually, knowing it was a disgusting bean actually concreted my decisions cuz I HATE cats! Oh, and they hate me back -_-') 

**Sorry it took me so long to update everyone! I've had so much to do, plus there was whole fiasco with my parents banning me from writing (which is why this story was bumped down from the higher rating, or else I wouldn't be able to continue writing it O.o) and so yeah… I swear it's not even funny, I think the writing spirit CURSED ME!!!!!!! T-T**

**Also, I'm suppose to be working on my homework right now (2 projects, a review sheet, and a worksheet all due by Mon! PLUS another project is due Fri…), but I am PROCRASTINATING!!! ^^ (So thank procrastination for this update!)**

**ON A SIDE NOTE ABOUT THIS STORY:**

**So, if anyone noticed how my writing style seems different with each person, than GOOD FOR YOU! YOU ARE OBSERVANT! Though everything's written in 3****rd**** person POV, I actually have 3 set of styles for the 3 main characters: Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. **

**Naruto will, of course, be pretty serious and it'll be through the style I usually write. **

**Sasuke is also my style of writing, though less serious and with more "jokes" (cough, cough) thrown in.**

**Hinata is my more formal form of writing, also with "jokes" because, I'd get bored if I had to write like that all day!!! XD**

**Voting is still in progress, and right now:**

**SASUNARU is WINNING! ^^ **

**All you NaruHina fans, REVIEW LIKE MAD if you don't wanna read Yaoi.**

**Sasunaru fans, REVIEW OR THEY'LL OVERCOME YOU!**

**I'll be closing the poll either next chap or chap 4. : D**

**Also, if you wanna see what Nato looks like, go to my profile for the link. (It's at the very end)**

**Remember:**

**Review, because if you move from the page without it the super virus will take over your comp!!! O.o**


	3. Tone

**Disclaimer- Naruto is not owned by me, if so……let's just say it'd be interesting ; P**

**Non-creepy love to all those who favorited or story alerted this story!**

**DOUBLE LOVE TO: **madamadadanechibisuke, Flightless Bird, Nik0laiCarpathia, asdf, ashwolf44, ladyblack-mara, Skywalker-1, KagomeGirl021, kim, Sexy Kurenai, totaltheTERRIER, Siren of the Sand, LovelySinner7, YaoiLuvr, Kingkakashi, Suave Jiraiya, fishbird, Kyuubi-Sama, Sunny Starr, blueberry, Gaara'sLuver1, KCWolfman, Slim Shady, foreverboundtopain, ieatyourfacebam, Mario The Stario, Kakashi Rocks The World, alfi, Hokage Hinata Hyuga, Cartman Rules!, and RachieM **FOR REVIEWING AND CASTING THEIR VOTES!!!**

**TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT:**

**Catman Rules! Wrote:**

Great story, but you've got me curious about something. In your disclaimer you obviously have a dislike for Sasuke which is cool with me. But in your story, you've not only promoted him over Naruto, but actually have him acting like a good guy. What gives??

**A) I LIKE YOU! ^^ You actually brought up something I get to explain : D I love explaining stuff XD**

**B) See, I don't dislike Sasuke as a character, but in the manga and stuff he has so little depth! Literally, he's like a map he's so easy to read, he doesn't even think for himself. It's cool and all that he's a jerk, every story needs a token jerk, but come on! He basically does what ever Itachi tells him to do, even though he tells him stuff for his own good, he somehow twists it so it ends up ruining his life! Jeez!**

**C) Actually, I promoted him to MAKE him the bad guy XD.**

**D) Ah, you see, here's where I attempt to add depth :D Note- Sasuke HAS been acting like a good guy, but Naruto doesn't see it that way…you'll see more in this chap ^^**

**ALSO TO CLEAR THINGS UP:**

**Sorry that's Sasuke's OOC, I kinda explained why I changed him above.**

**Also to all those who are DYING to know y Tsunade would promote Sasuke over Naruto…you'll see in this chap ^^**

**LAST BUT NOT LEAST! (Jeez! This author's note is long…but then again, so is this chap XD)**

**PAIRING DECISION AT THE END!!!!!!!!! O.o**

Chapter 3: Tone

~*~

_The walls start breathing_

_My mind's unweaving_

_Maybe it's best you leave me alone._

_A weight is lifted_

_On this evening_

_I give the final blow._

~ It Ends Tonight by The All American Rejects

~*~

The sun had begun to set on the ninja village of Konoha, casting an eerie glow amongst the trees outside its borders. Now that the sun had retreated, the wind decided it was safe to take over the position of the heat and blew with great bursts of force. Said wind blew extra hard against one spiky headed teen who jumped from tree to tree at an amazingly quick speed. The wind was blowing against him rather than to his back causing him to exert extra chakra in each step. His blonde bangs blew against his face, sticking in place as sweat from his previous training dried on the tan flesh. Though he'd been outside the entire day, his hair was still damp from his shower that morning and the chilly wind made shivers go down his spine, though he didn't show that it did.

Naruto Uzumaki sighed. It'd been ten minutes since he'd left Hinata with the weak excuse of needing to find the Teme a "congratulations" present and, he'd spent those ten minutes jumping from tree to tree in a circular pattern instead of looking for that present. The spiky haired teen stared sadly at the lowering sun. Each time he turned to the star, it grew closer to the horizon. Normally, he'd love the view of night mixing with day, especially on days like this when the moon and sun could be seen in the same sky. Those days felt as if the skies were just as confused as he was: stuck between the two extremes of the happiness he portrayed and the darkness that consumed his life. Today though, it merely marked just how little time he had before he'd be forced to smile at his best friend, the traitor, who was promoted to jounin before he, the loyal ninja who'd do anything for his village, was still a lowly genin.

A pang of pain ripped through the boy's heart. How could he think such angry thoughts towards his friend? Did he truly still think of him as a traitor, though he believed he'd long ago forgiven him for leaving them and being responsible for their friends' deaths? Again, another pang went through his heart when he realized the answer was yes. He'd though he was above holding a grudge, before this Sasuke was just another friend. Was he so shallow that just because _he_ was a jonin and Naruto wasn't that he was willing to think so badly about the other teen? Again the answer was yes and it sickened him. Where had this part of him come from? Sure, Sasuke had left to get power. Sure, he'd tried to kill him. Sure, Naruto wasted 3 years trying to get stronger to save him. Sure, Tsunade-baasan had chosen his best friend over him. Sure, everyone _adored_ the Uchiha while they despised him. Sure, Tsunade-baasan hadn't even promoted him to _chunin_ yet.

The boy stopped jumping as anger began to build inside of him with each "sure" he though of, just as it had when he'd first received the "news." His nails dug into the bark of the tree as he thought of how Tsunade-baachan had betrayed him when he'd done nothing but serve his home. He risked his life for this village, and he didn't even complain about the discrimination against him! Sure, back when he'd been a pre-teen he'd complained constantly about the mission he received, but even before Sasuke-teme's arrival he'd been nothing but the perfect shinobi. He did his missions quickly, accurately, and without complaint. As a matter of fact, he didn't even call Tsunade "baasan" when anyone other than team Kakashi or Shizune was in her office.

A sharp snap brought Naruto from his angry thoughts. The blonde's grip on the wood had tightened with each thought until the back finally snapped cleanly from the trunk of the tree. He stared at the piece of wood in his hand before loosening his grip and letting it fall to the ground. The bark clanked against the branch he was standing on before falling to the next one with another clank before continuing onto the next branch. Naruto didn't bother staying to hear the piece hit the ground, and took off jumping through the trees. The teen knew he had a good twenty minutes, longer if he just aimed to get there before Kakashi did rather than being on time, and though it'd be cutting it close, he was sure he would still make it.

After all, he was sure the Hokage was expecting him. She couldn't really believe she wouldn't need to explain herself after this little stunt she pulled. With renewed strength and drive, the boy pushed himself harder against the wind toward Konoha and those who hated him. As much as he loved his home, he couldn't help but clench his hands into fists as he neared the village gates. It was hard not running the opposite way when you knew everyone inside those doors would rather you disappear than for you to exist.

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As expected, the lobby of the Hokage tower was packed with teams waiting to give their reports. Ever since the Sound and Sand invasion over three years ago, the number of missions to be done sky-rocketed meaning every team and their cousin were doing something. No one had expected it to take so long to get the extra money for repairs, but it had turned out that Konoha had already been in debt to some of the smaller nations outside fire country borders and had nothing saved for disasters like the one mentioned above. But as much as the ninja complained about being treated like slave laborers, no one turned down a mission unless rest was absolutely necessary.

Naruto, however, was in no mood to wait amongst the other ninja waiting to speak with the Hokage in the blue carpeted waiting room and instead charged his way through the crowd, ignoring all the shouts and objections as he bumped shoulders against them. When he made it to the front desk, he didn't even pause and walked calmly and purposely towards the door to Tsunade's office.

"Where do you think _you're _going?" The receptionist snarled at him, standing from her seat as she glared daggers at the boy. The spiky headed blonde didn't even acknowledge the chunin, let alone heed to her obvious, though indirect, command to stop. When he didn't respond, she became more upset, going as far as extracting a kunai from the pouch on her knee. "Oi! Teme, I'm talking to you!"

The words barely left her mouth when she felt the wind get knocked out of her. Killing intent washed over her in waves, crashing against her body and paralyzing her to her spot in front of her chair. She'd seen battle before and she'd felt killer intent as well, but _this_ was unlike she'd ever experienced before. The surge seemed chaotic and demonic, though she could also seem something off about the feeling. It felt as if, against all her instincts which told her if she didn't leave now she'd be killed, it was hallow and there was no true threat behind it. Just as suddenly as the intense feeling had fallen on her, the weight was lifted. As an automatic response, she began gasping for air. Dropping the kunai, her hand shot up to her neck, still struggling to regain her breath, and she realized she was shaking. The blonde boy that had surely caused this was nowhere to be seen.

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Though 5 different Hokages had lived within its walls, the Hokage's tower had changed little since it was first built. The walls were the same color, the floor was the same, and even the same pictures hung in the hallways. As a prankster and a ninja, Naruto had been through this building enough times to maneuver through the hallways in his sleep, and he reached the Tsunade's door within minutes of his arrival.

The hard oak door slammed against the opposite wall, bouncing back slightly in response to the original action. Unsurprisingly, the Hokage was not alone in her office, and just as unsurprisingly, Naruto's entrance did not earn him a welcoming response. The two ANBU who were reporting on their latest assassination had appeared on either side of the blonde genin with kunai to his neck. Shizune too had sprung into action by dropping Ton-Ton and stepping in front of the Godaime.

"We need to talk." Naruto's reply was amazingly calm for the situation he was currently in, though malice was evident in his voice.

Shizune relaxed noticeably when she saw it was only Naruto, and bent down to pick up Ton-Ton who snorted angrily for being dropped for no apparent reason. The two ANBU, however, did not relax, nor did they lower their kunai. When Tsunade saw they were not stepping down, she coughed suggestingly. Both ANBU looked at her, and though they were wearing masks, she could guess they were raising their eyebrows. The busty blonde waved at them to show it was okay, and both ninja backed off unhappily.

"I'm a little busy Naruto." The boy didn't reply at first, instead choosing to glare at her intensely.

"So busy that you can't take five lousy minutes to even talk to _me_?" The older blonde stared at him for a second when it dawned on her what he was here about.

"Panther, Ox, you are dismissed. I believe I've gotten the gist of how the mission went and if you feel you have something else that you just must add, come back again later." Both ANBU nodded in response, knowing there was no point in arguing with the leader of their village. The pair was halfway out the doorway when the spiky headed teen spoke up again.

"Shizune too." That surprised both Tsunade and Shizune. Not only had he asked for her to leave, but he didn't add any kind of suffix to her name like he normally did. Slowly, Shizune nodded and Tsunade's demeanor became more serious. After the black headed female had exited the room, Tsunade began to talk.

"Let me explain."

"Oh, so _now_ you care to explain." The Godaime flinched at the tone of the younger boy's voice.

"It wasn't my choice to promote Sasuke."

"Of course it wasn't, it's not like you're the Hokage or something who makes decisions like that."

"It was the council who demanded it. They overpowered my decision. I've been trying to get you promoted for months but they would not budge. It seems they took the loopholes I'd found for you and made it so the same could go for the stupid traitor. I had no choice."

"_No_, no choice at all." Tsunade slammed her hand against her desk, sending a large crack right through the center of the wood.

"For Kami's sake! Would you stop acting like a child?!"

"ME ACTING LIKE A CHILD?!" Naruto snapped back. "You just let _Sasuke_ who betrayed our village become an f-ing JONIN because you didn't stand up against a bunch of stupid _senile_ senior citizens!"

"I didn't have a _choice_!"

"YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE!" The teen roared, probably loud enough so that the entire village could hear him. "_I _could have given up on trying to save the teme. _I _could have given up on this village filled with people who will always hate me because of the stupid Kyuubi. _I_ could have given up on _life_ since apparently NOONE cares anyway. Don't you dare tell me you don't have a choice, because if anyone in this room didn't have any say about their life it _certainly_ wasn't YOU."

Naruto didn't bother waiting for her reaction, and proceeded to leave the room, shutting the door with a harsh "CRACK!" behind him. The room grew silent with his departure, and the shadows that stretched from the last rays of daylight seemed sharper and darker. The Hokage sighed, shaking a bit from the shock of the boy's reaction. She brought her hand up to cover her eyes and she felt the wetness of her face.

Tsunade knew Naruto wasn't going to take the news very well; she knew he had every right and more to be angry with her, but _this_. There'd been so much pain in his eyes, so much hurt. She could tell he thought she'd betrayed him, and in fact, she had. He'd put so much trust in her to help him, to make his life seem somewhat fair, and she'd let him down. Sure she'd tried to get him promoted, and earlier that day she would have thought she'd done everything possible to get that promotion, but now she began to doubt herself. Was there _really_ nothing else she could have done? Had she missed some way to overrule the council's vote?

Minutes passed by, but she couldn't stop shaking. It wasn't only the _way_ he had talked to her, but his choice of words. What he said about her had been true, but she never thought about _his_ choices like that. The first choice he brought up was obvious. Even after everyone had told him to give up, he'd refused. He had promised to save Sasuke, he'd made that choice to try, and there was no way he was going back on that decision. The second was one that those who knew of the Kyuubi and the torment he faced by the hands of the villagers had always wondered. Even some of the more loyal shinobi would hesitate in answering whether they'd still continue to give their lives for people who downright hated them, but Naruto always had. And then that last one… Tsunade sobbed once.

Did the teen really think no one loved him? That no one _cared_ if he chose to give up on life? The very fact that he even brought that up as a choice scared the living daylights out of her. Her Naruto didn't talk in such a pessimistic way. Her Naruto was so full of life and so determined to become Hokage that there was no way he'd even consider death as an option before he had reached that dream. Yet here he was, speaking as if he'd not only acknowledged it as a choice, but seriously considered taking that path.

Haunted by her own thoughts, Tsunade reached blindly for the bottom door, pulling it open with a jerk. After seconds of groping around its dark contents, she found her special container of extra strong sake for those days she needed to get away from the world. She popped off the top of the bottle and took a large swing of the poisonous liquid. She knew she was going to have to talk to her fellow blonde about this; she had to see if he was truly suicidal or not…she just didn't have the courage to do it right now.

T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; T-T :'( ;_; -_-'

Even walking at a snail's pace, Sasuke somehow managed to arrive at the barbeque place on time, if not a little early. He shivered a bit as he walked, and stuffed his hands in his pocket. It'd gotten cold after sun had begun to set and of course the Uchiha hadn't thought to bring a jacket or anything. As he neared the restaurant he almost groaned aloud. His blonde friend had not yet arrived, but his other two teammates _had_. Before Sakura could turn around and spot him, the dark haired teen ducked into a nearby store. Though he acted pretty aloof, the truth was that the boy's heart was pounding. He had no intention of spending the next 10-20 minutes listening to his teammate rant about how proud and happy she was that he'd become a jonin. He also had no intention of being near that Sai creep any longer than necessary.

Sasuke waited a moment, half expecting his teammates to come bursting in behind him, however, they did not. The Uchiha sighed in relief that he'd made it without being caught and even smirked a bit.

"HI!" Sasuke jumped, shocked by a busty red head's sudden appearance. The girl looked him over and smiled sexily. "Welcome to Hawt and Smexy, clothes for those special occasions when you don't want any on! ¹ what can I interest a hot tamale like yourself in?"

If Sasuke had been shocked by the girl's appearance, then he was downright stricken by embarrassment by the time she'd finished talking. His eyes darted from the walls to the racks of clothes, a blush daring to rise in the normally emotionless Uchiha's face as he realized he indeed was in a lingerie shop.

"Um, no, I'm, um, I don't need, um, anything." The teen now was not only blushing, but stuttering! Surely he'd never been as embarrassed as he was at the moment in his entire life!

"Are you sure? We have a whole new line of banana hammocks if you want to check them out." Sasuke paled and shook his head, before high tailing it out of the store as quickly as he possibly could.

After that little fiasco, Sasuke was downright giddy to go hang out with his fellow teammates…though his once again emotionless appearance showed no hint of his relief.

"SASUKE! YOU MADE IT! It was starting to get late, and I was getting a little bit worried. I mean, it's unlike you to get here late. Naruto's late too which is also strange, but he seemed extremely tired this morning so he probably went home to take a nap. If he doesn't get here before Kakashi, I SWEAR I will go get his lazy butt out of bed and DRAG him here if I have to!"

Sasuke had tuned her out as soon as she'd said his name. Sure enough, Naruto _still_ hadn't arrived yet, and a bad feeling was settling in his stomach. The blonde was never late for anything, even when he seemed ready to fall over in exhaustion. It couldn't be good that he was late for his teammate's celebration dinner; after all, Sasuke was like a brother to him. What on earth could be keeping him?

Ten slow and painful minutes passed by. Sakura had not yet stopped talking, save when Sai would make a derogatory comment every now and again about something she had said. The pink haired girl would then proceed to crack her knuckles or raise her fist in warning, though she refrained from actually hitting the sickly pale male. Finally, at the end of those ten minutes, a silver haired man appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Good evening my minions!"

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"Wari, wari. You see there once was a man from Peru²—"

"Liar!"

"Actually Sakura," Sai interjected, "there really are men from Peru."

This time, Sakura did indeed hit the teen on the head, successfully leaving a large bump where her fist had connected with his skull.

"Well, let's not dally." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Naruto's not here yet." Sasuke reminded, speaking for the first time since his arrival.

"YES I AM!!!" The four team members turned to the source of the voice to see a blonde running towards them at full speed.

"You're late baka!" Sakura said, whacking him upside the head as he reached them.

"OW! Sorry! I had to talk to Tsunade-baasan. Itai, Sakura, your hits really hurt!"

"Well I wouldn't have to hit you if you made an effort to not almost miss important events!" Sakura huffed, though she did feel kind of bad for hitting him when he had a legit excuse for being late.

"Alright, alright. Enough bickering. Let's get inside and grab some food!" Naruto punched his fist up in the air in agreement and the five made their way inside the restaurant.

: ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : ) : D ^^ ~^^~ : (

The dinner itself was nice enough. The atmosphere of the restaurant was light hearted and the room was filled with laughter. Sakura and Sai had someone managed to act civil around one another, though Sasuke was still cold toward the latter of the two. Kakashi had once again managed to eat all his barbeque without his pupils seeing his face. However, as nice as the night seemed, the Uchiha teen could not help but feel uneasy about the whole situation. Naruto had exchanged only a few words the entire night, and he spoke only when spoken to. The entire dinner he ate only 3 pieces of meat and taken one drink of his water, and instead seemed to spend the night transfixed by a single spot on the table. Sasuke in turn spent the night with his eyes transfixed on Naruto, though he glanced at his fellow teammates and former sensei to see if they too noticed the blonde's odd behavior.

Sakura seemed oblivious to the current predicament, and supplied the table with gossip upon gossip, though she stopped every once and a while to fidget in her chair when she realized no one was saying anything. Kakashi too seemed to ignore Naruto, but Sasuke caught him throwing glances the teen's way when he thought no one was paying attention. Sai…well, Sasuke didn't know about him. As soon as Naruto had arrived he'd put on that weird smile of his. The smile was obviously fake, but it was strange that he hadn't even slipped and dropped the act once. If the boy could actually pull a smile like that off, he'd make a great spy.

"Ne! Sasuke-kun, why don't we open presents no?" Sakura said once they'd all finished eating. The emotion lacking boy shrugged, and turned his attention back to Naruto who hadn't reacted to the suggestion. "YAY! Open mine first!"

The girl shoved a red box at Sasuke from across the table, and the boy had no choice but to take it from her grasp. With an internal sigh, he pulled at the black ribbon letting it come undone beneath his fingers and opened the top of the box. Inside were a small scroll and an equally small bag that rattled when he picked it up.

"The bag is filled with soldier pills, and the storage scroll contains 10 rolls of bandages and 20 different kinds of poison cures. I figured that now that you're a jonin you'll be going on a lot of harder missions!" The green eyed girl said pride evident in her voice.

"Thanks Sakura." Sasuke said, only partly uncaringly. The present _was_ pretty useful.

"Here's my present for you." Kakashi said while extracting a scroll from his bag. "This scroll contains 7 different A-class and higher lightning jutsu. I know you learned a lot from Orochimaru, but I'm sure one of them will be something you haven't learned yet." Sasuke nodded and thanked Kakashi for the gift, while taking another box from Sai.

"I'm sure mine is more useful than both of theirs." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the other dark haired boy, and opened the box slowly. Sticking his hand inside, he pulled out a single jar of hair gel.

Sasuke scowled while Sai continued to smile his signature smile. Finally, it was time for Naruto's.

"Oi, dobe. What did you get me?" Naruto's head snapped up, and he looked at everyone's expectant eyes.

"OH! Heh, right!" Out of his kunai pouch, the blonde extracted a small parcel, wrapped in an old newspaper and tied together with string.

"Wow, I can tell you made an effort." Naruto scowled at Sasuke, but it wasn't his normal joking ones.

"Just open it."

Sincerely surprised by the tone of his voice, Sasuke proceeded to untie the package and tear at the newspaper. As the paper unwrapped in his hands, he almost dropped the present in shock. Slowly, he pulled the blue cloth from the paper and held it in his hands. It was a leaf headband with a single strike through the middle.

"Figured that now that you're a hot shot jonin you might forget what it was like when you were a genin." Sasuke looked up at Naruto. The blonde boy's eyes seemed to add the silent reminder, _"You'll always be a traitor."_ Sasuke snapped.

"What is your deal?!" The Uchiha demanded, standing up beside the booth. Naruto too stood up, and though he remained silent, he seemed to be challenging Sasuke.

"Hey you two! Sit down! You're making a scene." Sakura hissed from her seat, her eyes glancing at the other restaurant-goers who were indeed staring at the two males.

"That's right Sasuke, you wouldn't want to make a scene." Naruto taunted with a smirk on his face.

"What has been wrong with you today?! First at the bridge, then you run off, now you give me my old headband?" Naruto rolled his eyes in response.

"How do you know what's out of the ordinary anyway? You've only been back a month or so and you think you own everything."

"What did I do to piss you off so much?"

"The fact that you have everything handed to you on a freaking silver platter! You do what ever you f-ing feel like, and when you return the stupid council treats you like royalty. And even _then_ you act like some stupid drama queen. Still hiding behind the excuse that your family is dead? You have a stupid brother who loves you, so what's your excuse now?!"

"Oh, look who's talking! _I'm_ the drama queen? You're just jealous that you're still a genin! You're the Hokage's favorite little ninja and you're _still_ the dead-last. Face it, once a loser, always a loser. No one would ever want an idiot like you for a Hokage, in fact, they'd rather let the village burn than you rule it!" By the time Sasuke finished yelling, he was breathing fairly quickly. He knew he'd won the argument and he couldn't help but feel a little smug.

"Yeah, you're right." Sasuke's smile fell from his face as quickly as it'd appeared. Naruto had agreed with him, the blonde had never sounded so defeated before. Instantly, Sasuke could feel the guilt clenching at his stomach.

"Naruto," the word caught in the Uchiha's throat, as he struggled to swallow his pride and apologize.

"Save it, congratulations." With giving Sasuke another glace, Naruto stormed from the restaurant and out into the cold night.

¹ You know I just had to do something like that XD

² Who dreamed he was eating a shoe! : P I had a dream like that once…but it wasn't a shoe…and I wasn't eating it…XD

**So there's Chap 3! Extra long and written only after 10 o'clock -_-'(I'm super tired now!)**

**Anyway, I worked extra hard to get this done for this morn, even though I spent my entire day on the stupid computer planning for my trip this summer (who knew it'd be so much work?!)**

**So now for the news you've been waiting for:**

**When I opened the poll, I expected that a majority would pick a pairing and then I'd just write it. (I also guessed the winning pairing would be SasuNaru. (MAN! I should bet on that with someone, I could won some cash T-T)**

**HOWEVER, (yes, the dreaded however!) I didn't realize the kind of responses I would get for NaruHina. I mean, seriously, some of those were kind of like "harsh, much?" XD Not that that's bad or anything, just kind of surprised people would be so demanding of one: P**

**SO I HAVE DEICIDED………**

**To let you chose ^^**

**Whoa! Let me explain.**

**I'd been planning on the story being general/a love triangle until the end anyway. After seeing that some people really wanted NaruHina, I felt kind of bad that they didn't have that choice (I would be angry myself XD). SO, when it comes to decide the pairing I'll write a SasuNaru ending and a NaruHina ending! ^^ (Lol, really I think I'm kind of using this as an excuse to write NaruHina since I'm so partial to this pairing: P)**

**Cool?**

**Not Cool?**

**Happy?**

**Upset that I'm so wishy-washy and I made you worry about the pairing for nothing?**

**Looking forward to the story?**

**Or angry that I'm writing two endings and DEMAND I write only one?**

**REVIEW TO TELL ME IF YOU CAN DIGG IT! ^^'**

**Because if you don't……I'll spam u!!! (Not the ham in a can kind either XD)**


	4. Escape

**Disclaimer- Naruto is not mine, if it was I'd make the manga chapters twice as long so we don't have to continually wait til next week just to finish a single convo! JEEZ!**

**CASH MONEY TO: **madamadadanechibisuke, LivingGlow, fishbird, UchihaUzumaki baby, Ai Megami Murasaki, ali ebel, Lazerbot, Vampy-Note, Srta. Kinomoto, RachieM, KitsuneNaru, Kingkakashi, Bloodluvingirl, Flightless Bird, ooxshinobixoo, Nik0laiCarpathia, PERSONWHODIDN'TPUTTHEIRNAMET-T, foreverboundtopain, Suave Jiraiya, KCWolfman, Kakashi Rocks The World, Hokage Hinata Hyuga, mementomori666, Uniasus, Xiashadow, YaoiLuvr, LovelySinner7, and Picopicox3 **FOR REVIEWING! (Review and u too MAY win! ^^) (Omg! Almost 100 reviews for 3 chaps?! YOU PEOPLE RULE, SUPER SIZED BLANK CHECKS TO ALL!)**

**ALSO MANY COINS TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! : P**

**Sorry to everyone I confused about the pairings! I didn't go over the spell check and it put really weird stuff O.o What it was SUPPOSE to say was I'm writing a NaruHina ending AND a SasuNaru ending ^^**

Chapter 4: Escape

~*~

_And when it rains_

_Well you always find an escape_

_Just running away_

_From all of the ones who love you_

_From everything_

~When It Rains by Paramore

~*~

The weather had steadily worsened as the night went on. The wind thrived in the cool atmosphere, as if the darkness itself began to amplify the air's strength and speed. Clouds could be seen in the dark skies as dark shapes that blocked the light of the stars behind them, causing the sky to seem even darker and bitter. Still, the climate had little effect on the social activities and plans of the citizens of Konoha. If anything, the cool air and dark night seemed to attract more potential customers to the main street of the shinobi village. Groups of friends were meeting outside popular restaurants, couples were walking down the street hand-in-hand, and bright lights shone from every window on the road. But though it seemed that the exultance and jubilation shared by the villagers was incongruous, the mood of the night seemed fit under the light of the full moon.

Naruto seemed to be the only factor of the night that was out of place. The 16 year old had stormed out of the barbeque restaurant and, after taking a moment to collect himself, made his way towards the rundown sorry excuse of an apartment he called home. Unlike earlier, the wind now blew against his back, causing his shoulders to hunch against the extra force. Out of habit, the blonde stuffed his hands in his pockets and keep his face to the ground to avoid eye contact with any of the villagers. In this sense, he'd consciously made himself as small as possible, in hope that everyone else would ignore his existence as they did whenever he was in need of their help. His strategy didn't work however, and his presence seemed to affect everyone he passed. The group of friends stopped talking to glare, the couple swerved further to the right a good ten feet in front of him just to avoid going anywhere close to him, and even the lights seemed to dim in the shops until he'd completely passed in a half-hearted attempt to make it seem as if the store was closing so the blonde wouldn't attempt to come in.

As if he would anyway. Even with the domino effect his presence seemed to have on all whom saw him, the atmosphere of the town was still too joyful. The light mood seemed to suffocate the teen, and their shrill laughter pierced his ears. In his pockets the blonde boy clenched and unclenched his fists, repeating the action over and over again. He could handle elation. He could handle contempt. He just couldn't handle them together.

Unable to stand the surrounding cheer, he turned down the closest alleyway and headed deeper and deeper into the "bad" side of town.

Many other villages considered Konoha to be some kind of Utopia. They imagined the village to look exactly as the main street had: full of happy people going into nice little stores and having perfectly nice lives knowing that they had a great Hokage and strong shinobi to protect them from harm. But the village Hidden in the Leaves was still a city, and it only took two lefts and a right for Naruto Uzumaki to find himself in the middle of the "slums". Here, there were no shops, save liquor stores. The streets were mainly lined with bars and homeless people surrounded around a small fire pits. Few people visited this area, at least few sober people. And unlike the main street, the air here was heavy and shouting was the only thing that could be heard.

Normally, the blonde teen avoided the area like the plague just as everyone else did, even though it was the quickest route to his apartment which was at the far end of the area, on the edge of the two contrasting neighborhoods. He'd learned from a young age, the drunker a man was, the more likely he was to get violent. In fact, almost all of the beatings Naruto suffered were done in this part of town. After all, people were likely to hear him screaming if they weren't there to hear him, whether it be physically or conscious wise, it didn't matter.

Still, tonight the teen was willing to take the risk. He was anxious to get home, just counting the seconds until he'd lock the door and wallow in self despair like the worthless piece of junk he was. It was bad enough he'd let his mask drop in front of his team, it was even worse that he'd basically thrown it at Sasuke-teme's face, but to have to continue acting like nothing was wrong? That was unbearable.

But that wasn't the only reason he was rushing. His right arm was practically _aching_ for his razor. He could feel his hand jerking in his pocket. It took all the self control he still had not to just stop in a nearby alley, grab a kunai from the pouch on his knee….The boy had stopped sometime during that thought and he'd begun eyeing a nearby alley. But who knew that was a little too risking, and, gritting his teeth, he regained his composer and picked up speed.

Thankfully, the spiky headed male made it to his home without conflict. The sight of the old complex seemed to calm him down, and instead of bounding up to his apartment, he took each step one at a time and slowly took out the keys to the lock when he reached his door. Even going slowly, it only took a few seconds before he was inside with the door locked behind him. He stopped for a second, wondering whether or not he should go get his razor from his bathroom or just use a kunai. The blonde felt strange. On days that were only half as bad as today, he wasted no time coming home and cutting. It was almost like second nature to him, it gave him energy, it gave him life. Today…he just felt tired.

At that realization, his body seemed to grow heavier and the boy's legs struggled to hold the extra weight straight. The fox like boy sighed, dragging himself to his unmade bed while extracting a kunai from his pouch. The blonde turned as he reached the edge of the mattress before plopping onto the hard springs which creaked beneath his weight. He stared at the sharp weapon in his hand with no particular emotion in mind. No relief, no awe, no curiosity. Without even thinking about it, the blonde held it to his wrist. Again, he had that weird sensation, one he could only compare to watching himself from outside his body. The boy he saw was, for lack of a better description, depressing. You'd think that having a knife to your wrist would at least get some adrenaline pumping through your veins or that'd you'd experience some anticipation of what would come, and usually Naruto did. What was so different now?

When was the first time he cut again? He couldn't remember. He could remember how paranoid he'd been afterwards, how he'd spent the following two weeks going crazy about someone seeing the mark it left, but not the event itself. How did if make him feel? Obviously it had felt good enough to do it again, or else why did he continue cutting? The blonde pressed a little harder against the soft flesh of his wrist with glazed eyes, though he continued to argue with himself. What was the point of cutting again? He had no masochistic need, no morbid fascination with blood.

'_Control_._'_ A little voice said in the back of his head, but the Naruto shook his head. Why would he need control? He had everyone around him in the palm of his hand. With a simple idiotic mask, he controlled what everyone thought of him. Hinata's concerned face from earlier that day popped into his mind, catching him off guard and causing him to loosen his grip on the kunai. Just as quickly, pictures of Tsunade's hurt and guilty face and Iruka giving him a worried glance entered his mind.

Naruto growled as guilt began to rise within him. It had to be the fox's fault he was even thinking about them at a time like this. The blonde had never felt guilty before, he never felt the need to. They had no right over what he did to his body, cutting was just like him deciding to get a tattoo or piercing. Why would he think of them now when he truly had a reason to cut? Again, he pressed the kunai to his wrist, this time even harder. The last image of his teammates staring at him in surprise and Sasuke staring at him with guilty eyes as he ran from the restaurant just minutes before filled his mind. Again, he growled. Where was this coming from! He never cared before, he shouldn't care now. So what if he didn't know why he was cutting, cutting was _his. _

Though the teen was at war with himself, the aching of his arm hadn't receded. In fact, the presence of cool metal in his hand seemed to make the sensation unbearable. Even though he was arguing for or for not cutting, it felt as if his hand had already made the decision for him. It was as if even here the choice was no longer up to him. The blonde screamed in frustration and threw the kunai at the far wall.

"What is wrong with me!" Inside his head, the teen heard deep, booming laughter.

**So the gaki finally feels guilty. Heh, I knew you wouldn't last.**

_Shut up Kyuubi! You're the one messing with my mind!_

**Am I now? And this morning?**

The boy hesitated, struggling for a response. What had been the reason he told himself that morning to not cut?

_It wouldn't have stopped bleeding in time._

**That never stopped you before. Admit it gaki, you're weak. Even if none of those other worthless humans really care what you do to yourself, **_**you **_**don't want to hurt them by doing so.**

By now, the blonde teen was utterly confused. It was true, he knew that they'd blow the situation out of proportion and worry about it, but he'd never really thought about that happening before. But obviously he _had_, seeing as he was always so careful not to get caught. So, he _did_ care what happened to him, and he _did_ care about what it did to his precious ones, though the teen wouldn't allow himself to fully believe they cared for him for fear he was just getting his hopes up. Again, Naruto groaned, while pulling his legs up onto the bed and dragging his knees to his chest. Just like everything else in his life, he found something that made him happy only to have it ripped out from beneath him. …That is, if cutting even made him happy. Still, now he doubted he even had that option.

As if on cue, the boy heard a knock at the door.

O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.# O.o 8-O #.#:3

The "dobe's" departure meant that all eyes fell upon Sasuke's lone standing figure. Everyone remained silent a moment longer as if they were waiting for a second reaction, a part two to the drama that was playing out in front of them. That act never came, however, and as Sasuke slumped back into his team's booth, the restaurant picked up it's previous lively hood, though the topic of their conversations surely were redirected to what had just happened.

Team 7's booth was the only one that stayed silent, as all in deep thought about their fellow teammate. Sasuke was content with the lack of speech. It was obvious that all were at a loss for words and if they did attempt to keep a conversation going it'd be nothing but half-hearted. More importantly, the silence allowed Sasuke to think through what had just happened, just as he was sure everyone else was doing. The Uchiha hated to admit it, but he was shocked and confused. Naruto's present and reaction had been unprepared for and thus, he had reacted mainly on instinct. The black-haired teen already felt guilty about what he'd said, but now that the heated moment between the best friends had passed… In truth, Sasuke felt disgusted with himself. He'd always known how to push the blonde's buttons; he even took pride in that fact, and over time he learned exactly was within limits of "just teasing" and what could tear the other boy apart. Obviously, his last comment obviously fell into the latter of those two categories, if not into a worse one. After all, the other teen had _agreed_ with Sasuke. Previously Naruto had backed down, quieted down, he'd even upped and left on one occasion, but _agree_? It wasn't like Naruto.

Time passed and the silence that hung over the team seemed to grow more uncomfortable. By now, the silence was lasting far too long, perhaps a whole two or three minutes at most. Still, no one wanted to break the silence first, for fear conversation would be considered rude in the absence of their friend. Finally, Sakura cracked.

"Um, shouldn't someone go after him?" Everyone turned to look at her. Again it was silent for a second until she caught what they were insinuating. "Not me! Why should I have to do it? It's not like I did anything!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at how childish she sounded. I mean, really? "It wasn't me?" What was the point of pointing out the obvious when _obviously_ no one was willing to do it from the start? Still, it was ultimately the next step that one of the group had to take. They couldn't very well just leave the hyperactive blonde to sulk or whatever he was doing. It was unbecoming of the boy who always smiles to act so out of character, and more than just worrisome.

After waiting another second for some other kind of response or retort, Sasuke stood up again.

"Fine."

"Wait! Where are you going Sasuke?" The pink haired girl asked with a shocked and confused expression. The standing teen turned to look at her with an "are you really that stupid" expression.

"To find dobe." With that, Sasuke left the restaurant with a far less theatrical exit than his friend.

: ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D: ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D : ) :-) ^^ : D :-D -_-'

Again, Sasuke faced the challenging task of locating one Uzumaki Naruto, but this time he had a pretty good suspicion as to where the boy was. Without wasting anytime, Sasuke took to the roofs and headed for the blonde's apartment at top speed. The Uchiha wasn't quite sure _why_ he was rushing exactly, what reason was there to rush? Still…

In a couple of minutes, Sasuke had reached his destination. It'd only been about six or seven minutes since the other teen had stormed off, maybe a little longer. Climbing up the steps, the onyx eyed male heard thunder. Sure enough, as he reached the second floor of the apartment complex he felt a drop of rain fall on his check. The boy growled in frustration. Sasuke _hated_ rain. All it did was get everything wet, including Sasuke. If he'd wanted to get wet, he would've taken a shower or jumped in a body of water, why on earth would he want water to fall from the sky? Supposedly there were practical reasons, such as watering the surrounding vegetation and replacing water that had evaporated, but it wasn't worth all the trouble it caused for a training shinobi like him.

Still somewhat annoyed at the prospect of having to walk back home in the rain, the teen knocked on the correct apartment door. The Uchiha waited, listening for any movement. When he heard none, he turned to leave, but stopped mid-step when he heard a soft groan. Again, he waited, this time impatiently. When he heard no foot steps or other signs of movement, he knocked again.

"Oi, dobe. It's me." Again, Sasuke waited for some reply, but got none. The teen scowled and knocked more angrily against the wooden door. "I already know you're in there baka, open the stupid door before I just knock it—"

Sasuke was cut off before he could finish his threat by the door opening sharply about five or six inches.

"What!" Naruto asked angrily, though only half his body was visible through the door crack. The Uchiha merely shrugged as he studied the other male.

"Team sent me." The blonde rolled his eyes in response.

"Sure they did. Well, you came, I'm here, now go back to celebrating, and try to not go overboard with the illegal underage drinking." With that, Naruto brought up his arm to slam the door shut, but Sasuke caught the edge of the door with his own hand. The blonde glared at the dark eyed boy, more than annoyed by the other male's nerve, but said boy's narrowed eyes were fixed on the younger teen's wrist. Following his line of vision, the fox like boy saw what the Uchiha was staring at.

The teen instantly went to pull his arm away, but Sasuke caught his forearm before he could have the chance.

"What's this?" The black haired boy's voice was hard and commanding as he shook the other teen's arm, motioning to the bleeding wrist. The cut wasn't deep, but it was long, and the movement had caused the blood to drip down the sides of the wrist and fall to the ground. Naruto didn't reply, instead opting to try to yank his arm from the other boy's grip.

"ANSWER ME!" The blonde caught the other boy's eyes again. Onyx eyes filled with anger and fear stared into cerulean eyes void of any emotion but annoyance.

"Mind your own business."

"This _is_ my business!"

"Since when has MY life become YOUR business?"

"How long have you been doing this for?" Again the blonde yanked his arm, but the Uchiha's grip was too tight. "ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

"WHY SHOULD I?! You are NOT in control of me, you have NO right!"

"Hey!" Instantly, both boys swiveled towards the new voice. They didn't know what they were expecting, however the fairly large man who stumbled into the hallway certainly wasn't what they would have guessed. "What are you two little—oh! Look! ...it's an…Uchiha! Finally…taking care of the demon, are ya? About time! Need some…help?"

Sasuke sneered at the obviously drunk man who was slowly but surely making his way to the two arguing teens. Naruto, however, paid no attention to the other tenant of the apartment complex and tugged at his arm once more, which, thanks to Sasuke being distracted, came loose from the other teen's grip. Before the Uchiha could respond, the blonde slammed the door in his face and there was the audible turn of the lock. Swearing, the blacked haired teen banged on the door, preparing to break it down. However, he noticed that wasn't going to be an option because he felt a chakra enforced guard surrounding the wooden door. Again, Sasuke swore.

"OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" When he received no reply, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair and considered his options.

He could break down the door with a chidori or any other of his larger techniques. That, however, would create a lot of excess damage and may instigate a fight between him and Naruto, whose mental condition was already unstable. The other option was to go around and try the window. Of course, it was almost certainly chakra enforced, and though it would be easier to break down, it would also initiate a fight. That left going to Tsunade.

Sasuke swore. Going to the Hokage would waste time, and time was never a friend in situations like this. Naruto could try to off himself, and maybe even _succeed_¸ before he could return with backup and take him to the hospital to get psychiatric care for the blonde. But, then again, he was wasting time by just standing in front of his friend's door.

"Don't…worry Uchiha-san. Me and my friends will…get back at the demon for ya." In a flash Sasuke was behind the drunken man with a kunai at his throat.

"If I so much as _hear_ you _speak_ in such a way about _my friend_ again, I swear they won't even find your ashes!" The drunken man was so scared he could barely keep standing, but he somehow managed to nod. With that, Sasuke disappeared in a flash again, this time having jumped out the window.

The rain had really started to fall as he made his way towards the Hokage tower. Sasuke hated the rain.

:-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-(:-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-! (:-( X-( :-\

Sasuke had never made it to the Hokage tower so fast before, but then again it wasn't as if he ever _tried_ to. Despite the somewhat late hour, there were still quite a few people in the lobby, most of which seemed annoyed by the wait. Sasuke didn't even give them a second glance as he ran through the crowd at top speed.

"HEY!" The chunin receptionist yelled behind him. "Arg! Not again. Fine, whatever. I don't really care anymore."

It took him a total of a minute to make it to Tsunade's office, and he wasted no time bothering to knock. Inside, the fifth had all but fallen asleep on top of a pile of papers, but the sound of the door slamming open woke her from her nap.

"What now!" She said as her sight slowly returned to her. "Oh great, _you_. What on earth are you doing here?"

"Tsunade-sama, it's Naruto." That got her attention.

It only took a few minutes of explanation before she'd called for Shizune and started barking orders to call a squad of ANBU to bring Uzumaki Naruto to her by any means necessarily (alive of course). After the commands were given, Sasuke nodded and left to return to Naruto's apartment. Tsunade sighed as she once again fished for her sake inside of one of the desk drawers. This boy was going to be the death of her.

:-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :-& :'( \:-\ :( :- P

By the time Sasuke reached the rundown apartment complex the ANBU Tsunade had called for had already arrived. Of course, that wasn't very surprising considering they were ANBU and they were trained to respond at a moments notice. What _was_ surprising was there was only one and he wasn't doing anything. As a matter of fact, he was just standing in front of the closed apartment door. Furious and soaking wet, the teen stomped over to the ANBU ready to blow up.

"Sasuke-san. Uzumaki is not in his residence as previously believed. My comrades have spread out in search of him. We suspected, however, that you would like to study your teammate's home due to some evidence of the current situation we found inside, so I remained behind to grant you entry and update you if news was to come of his location."

Deflated, and feeling somewhat stupid for having doubted such trained shinobi, Sasuke merely nodded in response and entered the apartment.

The room seemed like the Naruto they knew; it hadn't really changed since they were genin. Old posters, most dating as far back as Academy days, hung on the wall. Most of the cabinet doors were left open revealing their empty contents, though a few contained instant ramen. A couple of chipped bowls were set to dry on one edge of the counter by the sink, while a single cup sat at the opposite edge, probably waiting to be washed. All was normal enough. The teen turned, and instantly his attention was caught by a kunai resting in the corner of the room. Walking towards it, Sasuke saw that it indeed had blood on it meaning…The male turned away from the weapon, feeling sick just from looking at it.

"Have you found him yet?"

"Iie. Perhaps you'd have a clue as to where he'd go at a time like this?" Sasuke shook his head.

He didn't know anything about the blonde anymore.

:-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| :-[ =O :| =D

Despite it being so dark that it was practically impossible, let alone probable, to distinguish one piece of mass from another, one young Hyuuga had spent the majority of the last hour sitting in front of her single bedroom window staring blankly outside. Of course, it wasn't as dark as it currently was when she started, but it still gave a discouraging image of the girl to the other members of the large Hyuuga complex. After all, if one had the time to sit and do nothing, then one had the time to help do the daily chores around the house or train. In Hinata's defense, she particularly _liked_ looking out the window. To her it was the same as taking a break to read a book or such: just another form of entertainment and relaxation. Everyone deserves a break now and again, or so many believe, though few receive the number they believe they deserve, and after a long day of training and watching Naruto train, she felt she could afford an hour of doing nothing. Besides, it'd begun to rain, and the Hyuuga heiress loved the rain.

In fact, Hinata's infatuation with rain was nearly as bad as her obsession with Naruto Uzumaki. If she could, she would have sneaked out the backdoor as soon as the first raindrop fell upon her window pane. But, that was not an option due to her father's current annoyance with her last sparing session she had with her cousin Neji just hours ago. The girl had preformed so inadequately that her father had revoked her "flower collecting" privileges until she could somewhat hold her own in a sparring session, or at the very least behave in a way that was appropriate of an heiress. (Hinata had a well-founded suspicion that her father knew what she had truly spent her "flower collecting" time doing earlier that day, but due to the fact that she was not suppose to have a guard on duty, he had no way to disclose that knowledge without admitting to his own wrong doing.) So, the lavender-eyed girl had no choice but to settle with just watching the drops of precipitation land on the glass instead of having them land on her flesh. Surely, it was strange how much the rolling droplets of water fascinated her so greatly, after all they were just a liquid formed by multiple molecules consisting of one hydrogen atom and two water atoms kept together by polar bonds. But, the rain soothed her. It was as if the rain cleansed her, without actually getting her wet. Certainly, the dark thundering clouds and roaring winds were not the preferred atmosphere of relaxation and serenity, but Hinata was a steadfast believer that new life follows every storm.

For the second time of the day, one lady Hyuuga had drifted from the confines of reality and into the expanse of her thoughts. Such lack of concentration set the stage for her utter surprise and alarm when there was a knock upon her window. When that knock came, said girl fell backwards from her seat with a loud squeak. She was prepared to follow said loud squeak of shock with a scream when she saw that there was a person at her window, but stopped mid motion, despite her mouth being wide open. As earlier mentioned, it was nearly impossible to see anything besides what was on the window itself, however Hinata could tell that whoever was at the window was moving his hand back and forth in wide motions, as if telling her to stop. Now, it goes against all instincts to listen to a complete stranger whom had somehow gotten past multiple security guards and snuck up to your window at night, but the normally shy girl did just that. She actually went further than that. In fact, she stood from her place on the floor and walked over to the window, unlocked it, and lifted it so that it was completely opened.

"HINATA!" Despite herself, the poor shocked girl jumped again, but held enough awareness to motion for the figure to be quiet. The stranger smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Regaining the rest of her sense, she realized that the figure in front of her was not stranger at all, but

"Naruto-kun!" Again, the figure smiled at her as he nodded. "How—how did you get here?"

"Walked of course!"

"But, the guards—"

"Heh, them? No problem! It's so dark out here, I think even I tripped over my own two feet a couple of times."

"But—"

"Um, any chance we can continue this conversation _inside_? I'm freezing my butt off out here!"

Hinata hesitated. If it was solely up to her, she'd allow the boy in without a second thought; however, she was in a very fragile situation. Her father had a psychotic episode when he found out she had been staring at another male, after all, just imagine what would happen if the man came to check on his daughter only to find that same boy she'd been staring at in her room in the middle of the night. She would be forbidden from leaving the house ever again! …After Hiashi had killed the fox like boy, of course. Still, Hinata couldn't just leave the boy she loved outside in the cold and rain. Despite her better judgment, which she seemed to be going against a lot as of late, she nodded and stepped aside so the boy could climb in. Grabbing onto the top of the window ledge, the boy gracefully launched himself into the girl's room feet first, and landed with ease only a few centimeters from the bed. After the boy had landed, the Hinata girl rushed back to the window to shut it, lest more rain soak the already wet floor. Only then did she turn back to the blonde, and when she saw him she gasped.

"You're soaking wet!" She squeaked. The boy rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I was, um, kind of standing in the rain." She hesitated again, but then shook her head.

"Ano, ta—take them off."

"The clothes?" Naruto asked, completely caught off guard. Hinata nodded in reply, too embarrassed by the statement to repeat it. The boy smiled again, and proceeded to take off his jacket. Once again, the poor girl was put in the awkward situation at hand, and she quickly turned away. She hadn't meant the statement in a bad way at all, she merely thought it best to get the other teen out of the wet clothes and to minimize the water inside her room. (After all, how does one explain the sudden appearance of a puddle in the middle of one's room when that person was not supposed to go outside?)

"I'm decent." The timid girl turned with blush evident on her face, causing the other occupant of the room to laugh. The boy had stripped himself of his jacket and pants, but one could consider the male to still be fully clothed. After all, the blonde teen had retained his black t-shirt and was wearing boxers that reached mid-thigh. Even so, the heiress maintained her blush. Sure, she'd once seen her cousin in only a towel before, but that was family…this was her crush. And though she tried not to stare at the boy, she could not help but notice that he seemed…different from earlier. No longer was his whiskered cheeks sunken in, but instead each was plump and healthy. Actually, his whole face seemed more vibrant and well. There no longer were rings around his eyes, no more red among the whites; overall he seemed in perfect condition. But one thing hadn't changed: his eyes still were dead, though they had a small sparkle of amusement currently in them. Acutely aware to the fact that she was still staring, she turn away from the blonde and blushed a deeper shade of red. One could only imagine how much at ill ease the girl was, but though she felt out of place, Naruto was not affected by the situation in the least.

"Yeah, so, where do I put the clothes?" Happy to have some sort of distraction, Hinata took the drenched clothing from the blonde and scurried off to wrap them in a towel she'd used earlier to dry her hair. The girl may have already taken enough risks allowing her love entrance; she didn't dare hang his clothes in one of the restrooms to dry. When she turned, the girl was greeted with a new scene, one including her crush lying in her bed. Had she not changed over the last couple of years and become bolder, this was surely where she would have fainted by now. Thankfully, she was somehow, and even she was unsure how exactly, able to find the strength not to fall flat on her back. Naruto, who seemed to be quite oblivious to the delicate situation he'd created, seemed quite comfortable under the covers with his hands behind his head.

"You were saying earlier?"

"Ano…why are you here? Not—Not that I wouldn't want you here or—" The blonde waved for her to stop as she struggled to correct her first rude statement as if it was nothing, but all cheerfulness and amusement he'd had since he'd arrived had left his face.

"Can't a friend visit another friend every once in a while? No, I know what you meant. Let's just say I did something bad and I've got a feeling baa-chan is lookin for me." The teen smile half-heartedly, but didn't bother to elaborate on his answer. Knowing that it was best not to push him to talk, Hinata didn't ask him to either. It was silent for a moment, but it was not necessarily an awkward one. Truly, it was more of a break for both to consider what they were going to say next. Naruto spoke first.

"You know you can sit down, right?" Hinata, whose blush had just started to recede, blushed once more and nodded. Slowly she walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of the soft mattress. Naruto sat up and grinned at the shy, embarrassed girl. "Aw, come on! I don't bite!" Hinata shook her head, still too embarrassed to actually reply. Finally, she spoke.

"How did the celebration for Sasuke-san go?" The change of atmosphere in the room was immediately evident. No longer was Naruto looking at the female, but at a single spot on the bed, as if avoiding her eyes. The blonde teen's grin had vanished and left no trace that it had been there in the first place. In fact, the boy's light hearted attitude and joking seemed to vanish as well, causing Hinata to bite her lip in anticipation.

"Depends what you mean." She waited for him to continue, but again he gave no sign of explaining the statement, so she continued.

"Did…something happen between you two?" The blue-eyed boy flinched at the harmless statement, and it went quiet again.

"It wasn't…well…something changed. He…I…let's just say, dinner wasn't all jokes and smiles—I wasn't all jokes and smiles." One could obviously see that the admission was somehow of great importance and that it took a lot of will power for the boy to admit, however, Hinata struggled to find what this importance was, beside the fact he hadn't been happy. Before she could comment on his reply, she heard talking in the hallway.

Both shinobi jumped from the bed and stood at attention. The voices talking, though now it had escalated into yelling, were rapidly approaching causing Naruto to swear quietly under his breath. Quickly, the blonde gave Hinata a small hug and a barely understandable "thank you," before he sprinted towards the window; lack of clothing and all. He'd barely thrown open the window, however, when the door slammed open revealing a very furious Hiashi and two masked ANBU behind him. The spiky headed teen didn't miss a beat, and he swung his feet outside the window, only to be pushed back inside by yet another ANBU. Falling to the floor, all just stared at the trapped boy. Again, Naruto swore, this time more loudly, but he raised his arms in submission.

"Fine, fine. You caught me."

As if afraid the fugitive would change his mind, the ANBU strode into the room and quickly hand cuffed the teen with chakra stabilizing bands. The bands had barely touched his skin when Naruto changed. Instinctively, Hinata brought her hand to her mouth in a weak attempt to stifle her gasp. The healthy Naruto who just minutes earlier had been laying lazily on Hinata's bed was replaced by the Naruto she'd seen that afternoon, if he was not in worse condition. He seemed to have aged at least a decade from his previous state, and he seemed thoroughly exhausted. But what truly caught her eye was his wrist and leg. Around his wrist was a haphazardly wrapped bandage, which seemed to have been wound too tightly and had spots of blood seeping through it. Worse yet was his leg which had rows of scars running down the thigh that were hardly concealed by his boxers. Tears could be seen filling the heiress's eyes, and Naruto gave her a sad smile.

"Might be a while til I can come visit you again Hinata-chan. If you don't get in too much trouble, come visit me in lock down, okay?" With that he winked at her and allowed the ANBU to steer him from the room. Hiashi glared once at his daughter, before following the ANBU to show them out. For once, however, Hinata wasn't afraid of her father; she had more important things to worry about.

One had to get their priorities straight, after all.

D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I D: :-? : I B-D

**Lol, yeah, I swear I'm getting addicted to all these smilies XD I mean, who knew there were so many O.o (I'm still partial to my normal ones, though…)**

**Anyway, there's my update! Sorry it's about a weekend late, I had a bunch'o parties last weekend and non-stop planning! -_-' **

**Which leads me into my other news:**

**THERE WILL NOT BE ANY UPDATES UNTIL ****AT LEAST**** THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY!!!!!!! (gasp!) **

**Yes, well, you see. I'm leaving for up North on June 6****th**** then I'm going to JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOP!!!!!!!! : D So, yeah, no writing, no time! : P But that's why I gave u an extra long update! (Over 7,000 words!!!)**

**On this chapter: Sorry if I kinda messed up with the Hinata writing style: it is 1 AM, and I've been getting an average of 6-7 hours of sleep for the past week cuz of all my worrying and planning, not to mention staying up for hours writing! -_- I'd go back and re-write the whole thing, but I felt I owed one more chap before I left, so sorry to all! Maybe I'll fix it later…………**

**Well, it seems everyone's cool with the multiple endings! (I think I only had one person who said I was being silly XD) And, I know some of you are concerned whether I'll be able to do it, but the way I write: I come up with multiple endings first, rest of the story later. Then I end up just using whichever one fits best, so on this story I'll just use both ^^ If it really become a prob, I'll just do some other people suggestions and make two separate stories, but that seems even MORE troublesome to me X.X**

**Oh, and I know this is random but answer me this: Who do you consider as the "bad guy" in this story?**

**Told you it was random! Sorry, I just kinda had a literary debate with myself about it…it was kind of funny actually : P So, I'd figured I'd ask for your opinion!**

**Okay, enough with the super long Author's Note! Any news or updates I have on when I'll update will be on my Profile!**

**REVIEW AS IF YOU LIFE DEPENDED ON IT!!! ……it might **_**actually**_** depend on it (*evil glint in eye* *cue evil laughter*)**


	5. Expected

**Disclaimer- I own no characters and I certainly don't own the series…… (Mostly cuz if I drew Naruto, it'd be solely stick figures! ^^)**

**MILKSHAKES TO: **Midnight-Shadow-Wolfling, vivi-vixen, SummerstormDancer, Shadow Kitsune67, Xiashadow**, **Kingkakashi, Picopicox3**, **InzanityRulz, KCWolfman, LovelySinner7, kirallie, login**, **extreme kiwi, Suave Jiraiya, Lioness-of-Tortall-7, Hokage Hinata Hyuga, kutoki, Draikinator**, **Aachen**, **Immortal Fallen Angel** FOR REVIEWING! (Pick your flavor :P)**

**AND ICE CREAM TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! (Quick! Favorite before it melts XP)**

**As to my Q about who is the villain:**

**A lot of people said it was mostly the village's fault which was weird cuz I wasn't even thinking of them (sure it **_**is**_**, but I was too busy thinking on a smaller scale of the main characters XD Good job at looking at the bigger picture! : D) Then everybody started dishin out the blame on Tsunade and Team 7 (Specially Sasuke *evil grin* MWHAHAHA, FEEL THE HATRED ^^) But what I really wanted to see was if anyone blamed Naruto. O.o I know, and YES! SOMEONE DID!!! I'd like to donate this chap to Drakinator who wrote:**

The bad guy...? That's hard. Not Sasuke. Sasuke honestly does want to help him, even if he's really going about it in a... not so great way, so maybe it's actually Naruto in a way, because he's hurting himself.

**Alright, you may think it's strange, but that's who I planned on being the bad guy (O_O moment) But of course, the blame gets shared so mostly the people who said there was no "bad guy" were right ^^ GOOD FOR U GUYS : )**

**Now, I'll leave everything else for the end (mostly cuz I hate having huge AN at the beginning and delaying the new chap) including Japan, more voting/reader input needed!, and BAD NEWS T-T **

Chapter 5: Expected

~*~

_Say it ain't so_

_Your drug is a heartbreaker_

_Say it ain't so_

_My love is a life taker_

~Say it Ain't So by Weezer

~*~

Thankfully, the trip to Tsunade's office was not as bad as the captive boy had originally expected it would be. One of the ANBU had been kind enough to grab his clothing, seeing as Naruto was too preoccupied by the hard grips on his arms that forced him out the door and into the rain to get them himself. The fellow shinobi were not nice enough, or better, _trusting _enough, however, that they would take off the chakra cuffs to let the blonde put his shirt on. At least he had pants, and he thought of himself as lucky to at least have them, considering the fact that he would have had to walk through the village in his boxers if he didn't. That bit of optimism, as small as it was, was enough to keep the teen confident enough that he was once again able to take out his mask and set it in place.

But his mask only made his ANBU escorts more uneasy. Not only had the boy given himself up, but he hadn't even gotten angry that they had not allowed him to put his shirt back on. After finding the boy had not been in his apartment, they'd been almost certain that he would fight back when they appeared in the Hyuuga compound, and were prepared to secure him by force. At the very least, they believed they'd have to drag him to Lady Tsunade kicking and screaming once they had arrested him. But no, none of these things seemed to be the case. He came willingly and was very polite through and through. In fact, the teen was _smiling_ at them. Not grimacing or frowning at having been caught, no guilt in his eyes for what he had done; just the same grin the blonde boy had become famous for.

Yes, Naruto was taking his arrest in stride. If it weren't for the bands on his hands, you'd think he'd just pulled another prank of his and that the teen was proud of his success. After all, he seemed fairly content. But, no, he was not _happy_ that the teme had gone running off to tell on him, as the blonde had guessed his friend would do, which was why he'd gone to Hinata's in the first place. They weren't so close friends that she'd be the first house they'd check, but apparently they'd considered her closer to him than he'd originally thought and they found him before he could find a proper hiding place. Naruto mostly blamed the capture on the rain…and the fact that Hinata had him get his clothes off. He hadn't seen that coming at all.

No, the Uzumaki guessed he was on some kind of artificial high, or perhaps his mind hadn't caught up with him yet. Or maybe both, he didn't really care what it was that allowed him not to stress. All the boy knew was that he much preferred the blank slate of mind he now had, rather than the usual headache and fears that filled his mind. Now that he was caught, he had nothing to worry about…or at least for the moment he didn't. As soon as he sat down in Tsunade's office, however, the game of cat and mouse that ruled his life would just start anew. She'd begin pressuring him for information, he'd have no answers, she'd insist he did, he wouldn't give any even if that was true, ect., ect.

The thought of fighting with his baa-chan put a damper on his mood, but not enough so that it affected his appearance to his guards in any way. It took quite a bit to break his mask. But good things never seemed to last long for Naruto. They'd almost made it to the Hokage's tower when he heard it. The whispering.

If there was one thing Naruto knew about whispering, it is never good. Whether the person was speaking to you or to someone else, whispers meant scandals, whispers meant rumors, and most of all; whispers meant secrets that wouldn't stay secret for long. And by the way people started running through connecting alleyways, despite the time, only to whisper something and run off again, he knew it had to be about him. The glances and cheers from those left on the street and through open windows helped too.

Naruto sighed. He'd known they'd had some sort of reaction to his arrest, but he'd had some small hope that his little convoy would make it inside before too many people knew what was going on. But of course, gossip travels fast when it's juicy, and the news of the arrest of a demon might as well have been some super virus with the way it spread. Despite himself, the blonde chuckled at how happy they all were. If they knew that he was being arrested for hurting himself…he could hardly believe they'd be joyful then. Maybe he should tell them so they'd join his side against Tsunade. Certainly the council would be by his side, as well as three fourths of the village. But the teen shook the idea from his head. Uzumakies¹ didn't play that dirty.

They'd all but made it through the door to the tower when the group heard a loud, "SMACK!" The ANBU spun around, ready for an attack, but all they saw was a large rock on the ground. Their ward seemed perfectly fine, however, and grinned at them.

"Missed me!" Naruto said, giving them two thumbs up. They probably would have believed him too, had they not seen specks of blood on the ground just behind him and on the rock itself. The trained cold-hearted killers shared a look amongst each other, and then turned to nod at the boy slowly. Even through their masks, Naruto could tell they pitied him, and as soon as they turned around he growled under his breath.

He didn't need pity. Where was their stupid pity back when he was just a helpless little kid that was getting beat up? Nobody gave him a second glance when he was being pummeled then. Naruto brought his hands behind his head in a relaxed gesture, but in truth it was to feel the growing patch of warmth on the back of his head. Sure enough, he felt a little blood, but it was nothing to worry about, so he didn't worry about it. Kyuubi would heal it before it even became noticeable. Besides, the blonde grinned. He was in the lion's den now, and it was time battle the beast.

B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P B-) ;-P: O

Had Naruto not known he was in serious trouble he would have laughed at the situation he was introduced to when he arrived. Tsunade was up and about pacing and taking swings of sake like a fretting mother hen, closely followed by Shizune who attempted to grab the sake from her hand in vain. Ton-Ton sat on the desk watching the situation and even seemed to give a sigh at the women's antics. What surprised the blonde was the fact that Sasuke wasn't there. Certainly the little snitch would have been here to see his scolding. Naruto highly doubted the teme would miss out on that. Besides, he was sure to have _several _questions for him, and Uchihas were NOT a patient bunch. The two that were in the room did pause, though, when the group made their way to the center of the room.

Both stared in shock at the boy they'd order the arrest warrant of, or more specifically that Tsunade had ordered to be brought. The Hokage's assistant gasped at the sight of the blonde boy in a similar way that Hinata had earlier that evening, and went to grab her pet pig just to have something to hold. Tsunade merely sighed while pulling back her chair so she could sit down. She'd spent the last half hour thinking of the worst possible outcomes of the situation. That he'd have left the village, that he'd put up a great fight and injure himself in the process, that he'd commit… She hadn't expected this. Here he was, Naruto Uzumaki, the boy that might as well have been her own flesh and blood, smiling happily despite the fact that he looked like he might just break if she said the wrong thing. The boy in front of her was nothing like the one she'd seen earlier today. Physically, he was fairly the same. His cheeks were perhaps slightly more hallow, his stomach leaner showing a loss of some weight, and of course the bloody bandage wrapped around his wrist was to be expected (though that didn't stop the Godaime from wincing as her glance fell on it). Put the boy in front of her seemed to be nothing but the empty husk of the boy that had screamed at her earlier. Naruto's cerulean eyes were glazy, his body was somewhat slumped…overall, the other blonde just looked tired.

"Ne, Tsunade _baa-chan_, are you just gonna stare at me all day or did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?" The younger blonde asked with a smirk, stressing his use of the nickname she hated. The teen didn't receive that much of a reaction though, as his baa-chan merely sighed again and slid into the chair she'd pulled out earlier. Not allowing the lack of response undermine his confidence, Naruto too took one of the chairs in front of her desk, though he sat sideways with his legs dangling from one of the arms of the chair. Tsunade still said nothing to the boy, instead directing her question to the ANBU behind him.

"Mission report." The group nodded as one with a monkey's mask stepped forward.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Uzumaki-san was not in his apartment by the time of our arrival. I stayed behind to inform Uchiha-san of his disappearance as the rest of my team spread out to search his friends' houses. After having informed Uchiha-san and after confirming he too did not know where Uzumaki-san had gone, I joined my group in searching as well. I first followed the Uchiha to make sure the boy hadn't gone to hide there, and then made my way to the Hyuuga compound. On my way, I saw footprints heading toward one of the side walls, and mud on the wall itself." The ANBU stopped momentarily as Naruto started muttering something along the lines of "stupid rain making stupid mud that got me caught." Once the boy stopped muttering, the ANBU continued. "By the size of the foot I gathered there was a good chance it was Uzumaki-san's and radioed for my comrades to join me. I stationed one man outside the older Hyuuga male's room and one at the younger heiress's room while my remaining member and I went to the front door to ask for entrance. Hiashi-san was furious at the accusation of housing the blonde, and it took a minute or so to get him to grant us access. Seeing as Neji-san was currently away on a mission, we decided to first check Hinata-san's room where we found Uzumaki-san in his undergarments readying himself to jump out the window. He was, of course, stopped by the guard stationed outside and he allowed himself to be cuffed willingly."

Tsunade stared at the teen in shock at the fact that he'd come willingly, but then smirked at the earlier comment.

"Only in your boxers, huh? Maybe Jiraiya rubbed off on you more than I originally thought…" Despite himself, Naruto's cheeks turned almost as red as Hinata's had.

"My clothes were soaking wet, and she didn't want me catching a cold, and I didn't want to get anything wet, but it wasn't anything like _that_, I'm not a perv!" Naruto rambled quickly, only making the present Hokage's smirk grow.

"Hmmm. I guess that things went smoothly from there?"

"For the most part, yes. Unfortunately, there was a small incident as we were arriving to the tower." Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"What kind of incident?"

"It was nothing baa-chan." Naruto said before the ANBU could answer, sending the higher ranked shinobi a warning glare to not continue. The man paid the teen no mind, however, and continued to answer.

"Uzumaki-san was hit with a rock thrown by one of the villagers in the back of the head." Naruto shot the monkey faced shinobi a look of pure hatred, but it was child's play compared to Tsunade's.

Pure murderous intent burned in the Hokage's hazel eyes. Though all were highly aware that the killer intent was not directed at them, the ANBU team all took one step back to put space between them and the crazed woman. Naruto, however, didn't even flinch, despite the fact that her eyes lying on him.

"Ne, baa-chan. It's no big deal—"

"NO BIG DEAL? HOW IS IT 'NO BIG DEAL'?" The blue eyed boy put his hands palm up and shrugged, but it seemed that was the worse possible choice of action he could take as Tsunade's eyes once again fell onto the bandaged wrist. Gritting her teeth, Konoha's leader sat back in her chair in a sad attempt to calm down. "_FINE_. Let's get down to what you're here for."

Instantaneously Naruto stiffened. As the realization that the game had begun ran through his head, he frowned. But as quickly as his masked had slipped, he had it back up again.

"So, what's up baa-chan?" The teen asked with an innocent tone and a happy grin. The older blonde wasn't fooled. She saw the frown, and she knew the gaki was far from innocent.

"You know exactly what you're here for Naruto, and it's your turn to explain." The boy smirked as she forced the words out between her grit teeth exactly as he had earlier that day.

"I'm a little busy." The teen repeated her earlier excuse. Tsunade dug her nails into her desk in frustration, succeeding in creating a large indentation when they touched.

"Everybody _out_!"

The ANBU didn't need to be told twice, and they swiftly exited the room as if running from the death god himself. Shizune, however, was a little more hesitant in her departure. The quiet, but present, stubborn side of her felt she had a right to hear what Naruto had to say just as much as Tsunade did. But after a second glance at the legendary sucker, she too high tailed it out of the room, Ton-Ton in tow. Once the door shut behind her assistant, she let her eyes fall back on the source of her frustrations.

"Explain, NOW."

"I don't really see what there is to explain."

"The _cut-ting_." She stressed the word into two distinct syllables, but the boy still seemed to not understand.

"Again, I don't see what there is to—"

"WOULD YOU JUST _STOP_! STOP ALL THIS NONSENSE AND TELL ME _WHY _YOU'D EVEN _THINK_ ABOUT HURTING YOURSELF!"

The room fell quiet after her screaming. She waited patiently for the teen's reply, her eyes never leaving his. …But there was none. What's more, she saw that he hadn't reacted to her yelling in any kind of way. His eyes weren't surprised, they weren't guilty, they weren't even _angry_. They just…looked at her. They watched her as if none of this really mattered, as if he was just watching a drama unfold. The busty blonde's grip on the desk tighten and she could feel that it groan beneath the pressure. And then for one second, his look softened. It wasn't necessarily guilty or sad, just…deflated. It didn't last very long, and the boy's eyes were blank again, but it gave her some hope.

"_Please_ Naruto, _please_ just tell me _why_."

Naruto didn't really know how to respond. He'd been prepared for the yelling, for some begging, and even for some crying but _man_. Tsunade, the strongest shinobi in the village by default of her position, had never seemed so needy. She might as well have been on her knees begging him to stop. Again, he felt a little guilty seeing her own guilt and hurt. But what could he tell her? What did she _want_ him to say?

Out of nowhere, Naruto flipped his legs back onto the ground so that he was sitting properly in the chair and facing Tsunade. With pouting lips and a puppy dog stare, the poor boy clasped his hands together in a begging stance.

"Oh _please_ forgive me Tsunade-baa-chan! I'm sorry I was hurting myself! This was all just an elaborate cry for attention like my pranks. But, you don't have to worry! I've quit for good! Stone cold turkey baby!" The blue eyed boy said in a genuine tone of voice, even ending the speech with a good guy pose.

Tsunade was not pleased.

"THAT'S IT YOU LITTLE BRAT!!! What do you think this is? Some kind of JOKE? Huh! This is your _life_ we're talking about! Stop fooling around and acting like an idiot and let us _help_ you!"

"What do you know about my life? For all _you_ know, everything I just said could've been true!"

"Was it?"

"See! You don't _know_! Just because I say things in a happy voice doesn't mean it means anything less, I would've thought that you'd know me well enough to know that. Just because I act like an idiot doesn't mean I am one."

"If you don't want to be treated like an idiot, than just stop acting like one!" Naruto laughed bitterly.

"PLEASE. If I'm even myself for a minute people start worrying, do you know how many—" Mid sentence, the teen stopped as if it had just occurred to him what he had been saying.

"'Problems it'd cause'? Was that what you were going to say next?" The spiky headed boy averted his gaze and stared intently on the wall. "Naruto…you're right."

Naruto's head snapped to face her and he stared at her suspiciously.

"I certainly don't know as much about you as I thought I did." The boy snorted at the understatement. "Perhaps I didn't know anything at all. But we both know how I'm going to learn about you, don't we?" Tsunade couldn't help but smirk at how pale the boy's face got. Sure she was being cruel, but the brat deserved it for acting so arrogant earlier.

"Right," he said quietly. "About that…"

"Sorry Naruto, but you've given me no choice. For now we'll put you under a 24 hour suicide watch and make sure you don't have so much as a chopstick to hurt yourself with. You will be taken off of active duty until I receive reports that your mind is indeed stable enough to handle the stress of combat. And though your housing situation after the suicide watch is over is still under discussion, you _will_ be seeing some psychiatric counselor at least three times a week." Naruto groaned.

"I am _not_ suicidal! And there is no way on earth you're making me see a person who gets paid a hundred dollars an hour to ask 'and how does that make you feel?'!"

"Well, that isn't up to you now is it? Perhaps if you had talked to me I could have been more lenient, _however_…" The younger blonde groaned again.

"PLEASE baa-chan! Have some kind of mercy! I'm crazy, remember?"

"That's why you're seeing the shrink." But after seeing the boy's puppy dog eyes, Tsunade sighed. "We'll see. I'll be getting reports one way or another, but maybe if you're good…"

Once again, Naruto shot her a good guy pose and smiled. In response, the fifth merely shook her head and waved him off. As soon as the boy left the room, she took another long swing of sake. That boy was way more trouble than he was worth.

Outside the room, said boy sighed in relief, despite the sight of two ANBU whom he assumed were to guide him to the psychiatric ward and his makeshift prison. He knew he'd gotten off easy, way easier than expected. Actually…The boy shifted his weight from one foot to another before allowing his ANBU guards to take him away. That was _too_ easy, and Naruto was afraid of what that woman had in store for him.

OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' OO ^^' *_*''' : D

Being on suicide watch was hardly as bad as he thought it was going to be. Or maybe he was just being optimistic again or on another superficial high. Either way, somehow he'd expected he'd slowly go insane if he was locked inside a small room. Instead he found out it was exactly like his hospital visits. Only this time, they skipped the part where he snuck out of the room when he wasn't suppose to and jumped right to the part where they locked the doors and windows (though he had none in this room) and stationed guards to watch him. Besides, this was _nothing_ compared to the time where they strapped him down after one escape.

Still, the boy was _bored_. Not just, 'I've-got-way-too-much-energy-and-ADHD' kind of bored either, but the 'I've-actually-done-everything-that-there-is-avaliable-for-me-to-do-and-now-I'm-at-a-complete-loss' bored. The room was as bare as most hospital rooms, but his seemed even scarier bare. The blonde had spent the first fifteen minutes of his time trying to figure out all the things they'd taken out and _why_ they took them out. He noticed there were no books, papers, or even napkins in the room. (They probably figured he'd _intentionally_ give himself a papercut.) The shower curtain, bed sheets, and pillow case were all gone as well. (All could probably used for strangulation, but Naruto wasn't into that stuff anyway.) The funniest thing he noticed were missing were the slippers. Just what was he suppose to do with them? Hit himself with them until he was knocked out? He could do that with his fists if he really felt like it.

After occupying some time with that, he eventually grew bored and turned on the TV. He was surprised they even gave him _that_. They weren't in normal rooms after all (or at least no room he'd stayed in) and the teen had figured out at least ten different ways he could use it to kill himself if he really wanted to (but of course he _didn't_). He suspected it was a special treat from Tsunade. Maybe she knew he'd go completely crazy if there was not something stupid to occupy his mind.

But after watching a marathon of some insanely unrealistic yet addicting drama, Naruto finally turned the television off. Now what? He'd never been this bored in his _life_. Okay, so he may have been exaggerating, but there was no clock in his room and that somehow made his 24 hour containment seem even longer because he had no idea how many hours had gone by. The boy sighed staring at the black television screen. It was probably around midnight right now, guessing late he'd been brought in in the first place. But even that may have been pushing it. Still, now was as good of a time as any to fall asleep.

His body didn't seem to be cooperating, however, and the blonde felt in no way ready to fall asleep. True, his body was exhausted, but his mind was running wild. What were his friends going to say when they found out? How much trouble did he get Hinata in? Which slow and painful way was he going to kill the teme once he got out? Would he be able to convince someone to bring him ramen while he was locked up? More importantly, how long was he going to be locked up for?!

Despite the number of questions in his mind, his body eventually won over, and the trouble teen drifted away from reality into yet another nightmare.

~^^~ ~^^~ ~-_-~ ~*-*~ ~^^~ ~^^~ ~-_-~ ~*-*~ Was gonna end it here, but it felt weird without another POV! ~^^~ ~^^~ ~-_-~ ~*-*~ ~T-T~

Sasuke couldn't wait to get out of this god-forsaken rain. He was already soaked from running in it earlier, and then he had to humor the ANBU by using his sharingan to search for other chakra systems in the compound even though he was almost certain Naruto wouldn't be here. If he was, he was probably here to beat him up or something. There was no way he didn't know where Sasuke had run off to, and he couldn't be happy with him. Considering that the Uchiha wasn't very please with his teammate either, he considered them even.

But he didn't want to think of the blonde right now. Sasuke could worry about him later. Right now, all he wanted was a hot cup of tea² in his hands and a dry change of clothes. Finally, he reached his home and after opening the door, he let it slide shut behind him. Not caring whether or not he was making a mess, Sasuke kicked off his shoes and strode into the kitchen, dripping clothing and all. Again, his brother was there waiting for him.

Itachi looked his brother over, taking in his soaking wet clothes and scowling face, but then took another sip of his tea.

"Kettle's on the stove." Instead of thanking him, the younger Uchiha growled.

Half stomping, half dragging his feet, Sasuke made his way to the tea kettle and poured himself a hot cup. He hesitated before sitting down across from his brother who didn't seem at all bothered by his sour mood. Without checking the temperature, the teen took a large drink of the tea only to severely burn his tongue. Hissing, he slammed the cup down onto the table resulting in splashing some of the scalding hot liquid onto his hand. Sasuke swore harshly and cradled the hand in question.

"Language, Otouto."

The younger male growled and muttered, "Don't tell me what to do", even though it sounded childish. Slowly, he took another sip of tea, this time enjoying the way the hot liquid burned his throat and warmed him up.

"Perhaps you should change?" Sasuke just shook his head, not really paying attention to his sibling. Itachi paused, studying him. "What happened?"

Despite himself, Sasuke could feel a lump get caught in his throat, though he made sure he acted like nothing was wrong. He was getting far too worked up over this, but he had reason too. How could Naruto, _his_ dobe, be cutting? The guy never even acted like he was depressed before, save for today. Maybe today was his first time? The Uchiha shook his head again knowing that that was just wishful thinking. What if the baka was suicidal? What if he was off killing himself as he just sat here drinking tea? The raven haired teen hadn't even asked the ANBU to inform him once they'd found Naruto, he hadn't even though that far ahead. All he'd cared about was getting out of the rain.

Itachi sighed, somewhat gaining Sasuke's attention, though he was still thinking about his teammate.

"Uchihas may not be ones for sharing their thoughts and feelings Sasuke, but I would have thought that after what happened between you and me you'd be a little more willing to share." After seeing his younger brother's confused look, Itachi continued. "I didn't tell you why I killed our clan because I didn't trust you, and that was my mistake. If I had, perhaps you wouldn't have had to be alone for ten years. Since I've returned, I've tried to speak to and start a conversation with you, thinking that perhaps I could right my wrong, but it seems it's now you who doesn't trust me."

Standing, Itachi put his cup into the sink, aware that a pair of onyx eyes followed his every step. Despite the fact that this was the most he'd probably had said since he'd been reunited with his brother, the older Uchiha continued.

"You don't _need_ to tell me anything you don't wish to, but perhaps in due time. I guess it was just a foolish hope, but I had wished that we'd go back to how it used to be. Back to when you'd constantly bothered me and wanted my help, but now I'd have the time to be there." With that, the inactive Shinobi headed towards his room.

"Why would he do it?" The ex-Akatsuki member turned to look at his brother, his turn to be confused. The other male wasn't looking at him though, instead staring deep into his tea cup with his bangs covering his eyes. "_How_ could be so stupid?"

"Maybe you ought to be asking him." With that, Itachi left without bothering to look at his brother again knowing there was nothing left that he could say or do.

Sasuke finished his tea in silence before following his brother's example and heading to his room. As he walked he shrugged his shirt off, and when he reached his room he tossed it off to the side³. In reply, he heard an angry meow. Blinking he turned to his shirt which was now wildly thrashing this way and that.

"Right, cat." Walking over to the bundle, the teen carefully picked up the shirt from one of its edges to insure the cat would scratch him again. As soon as the shirt was lift, Nato made a made dash across the room until it hit the far wall, where it turned to hiss at him.

"Stupid cat, not my fault you couldn't find your way out from a shirt." Again, the raven haired teen dropped the shirt, and then proceeded to search for a towel to dry himself with. When he found one, however, he was again distracted by an angry meow. Turning around he saw that the cat was tangled inside the shirt, this time with his head poking out for one end.

"Do you _want_ to get stuck? You're just as dumb as do—" Sasuke stopped mid thought and he continued to stare at the struggling cat. With a sigh, he walked over to free the small creature for its trap for a second time. "Guess I've got to help you too… Fine, I'll go see him tomorrow. I know the dobe wouldn't be dumb enough to have killed himself, so they must have found him by now." In response the cat licked his hand.

Despite the fact that he was probably crazy for talking aloud to a cat who probably didn't understand a single thing he had just said and had only licked him because he was freeing him from the wet shirt, Sasuke was sure he was making the right decision. Even if Naruto hated him and wanted to kill him, he needed to try. Consider it as returning the favor.

¹ - What is the plural of Uzumaki?! Jeez, I sat here for ten minutes trying all the ways, so I just picked this one!

² - I wanted to say coffee, but do they drink coffee in the Naruto world? Oh well, whatever. 

³ - PLEASE no fangirls! XD

**Yo! Did ya miss me? ^^ So, yup! I'm back from Japan, and I've gotta say it was AMAZING!!! You HAVE to go there at least once in your life!!! (I wanna go back :P) My fav thing was the shikansen and train system (call me nerdy like that) but I also loved all the temples and stuff. Only thing I had probs with was the food (I'm picky…but hey! I lost some weight ^^)**

**But here's why you're going to hate me:**

**I'M GOING TO MEXICO ^^''' Yup, tomorrow to be precise. So, no updates….AGAIN -_-' I'll be back about the 17****th****, and then I'll probably force myself to get another chap in before……**

**I'll tell u about that later ^^'**

**But now, I NEED YOUR HELP:**

**IMPORTANT:**

**Who should be Naruto's therapist?**

**A) Hinata (That way she'll be easily accessible for the story)**

**B) Itachi (In case you haven't noticed, he's like my Simon—you know for Lord of the Flies, my fav character and only thing good in the whole book )**

**C) Just some OC therapist ^^**

**D) If you have someone else you REALLY want, you can give your vote to them, but it's unlikely that I'll pick them cuz it might be hard to force em into the storyline**

**SEMI-IMPORTANT: (Spoiler)**

**Is Jiraiya alive? O.o (It hadn't really occurred to me until now. Technically, I guess he should be, but…up to u)**

**A) Yes**

**B) No**

**OTHER:**

**Would anyone like to be my beta? ^^'**

**I was reading through the other chaps and I realized there are quite a bit of mistakes, so I could REALLY use some help. If you've got some spare time and would like to help a girl out, just PM me : D (And if u're a procrastinator, just think: I won't be back for a couple weeks ;P)**

**Hope you liked the chapter! (heh, heh, yes Itachi was OC, but he was from the beginning…unless he's normally a mother hen O.o)**

**REVIEW, or better yet, DON'T REVIEW! (Reverse psychology!)**

……**No! Wait, come back! Please review T-T**


	6. Coward

**Disclaimer- Didn't make up the Naruto world…if I did I'd probably give them even worse names XD (Cept, Naruto's about as bad as it gets…real ramen overdose to pick that name : P)**

**ALL YOU CAN EAT SUNDEA BAR TO: **Shounen-Ai, Midnight-Shadow-Wolfling, mikuloveitachi, Pewinov, kirallie, sasunaru, Immortal Fallen Angel, Surgery With Smiles, vivi-vixen, KCWolfman, makura moderski, Kingkakashi, wiiTneSs, extreme kiwi, Naruto, Draikinator, Aachen, Au-Gold, foreverboundtopain, Blood Zephyr, xxnarufanxx, LovelySinner7, narutoisuke, and Twinklebell12 **FOR REVIEWING! (Man, I gotta quite writing these when I'm craving ice cream T-T)**

**AND SOFT SERVE TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^**

**Also! I was shocked to see I forgot a very important message last chap! (see y u musn't rush : P) Well, here's my direct quote:**

"**100, OMG, YES, YES, HA! 100 in 4 chapters! I'D LIKE TO THANK ALL THOSE STRANGERS WHO HAD THE HEART TO REVIEW, AND I'LL MAKE MINI-TROPHIES FOR ALL OF YOU!!! I used to think if I was a bird I'd be penguin cuz I couldn't fly, but now I am an ostrich!!! Run ostrich run!!!"**

……**A) Those trophies are still on mail order and B) I think I be Cu-Cu for Coco puffs! *_* (Ha, random fact: the first time I got to stay up til midnight on new years, maybe 2****nd**** or 3****rd****grade or somein, when it hit midnight I stood on a chair, wine glass filled with coke in my hand and screamed "I'M THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!!" XD I think I preceded to say random stuff about how my minions should bow for me, but most of the night's a little hazy……CAFFENINE HIGH O.o)**

**Before I start! EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO:**

**Aachen! Omg, your review made me crack up laughing and I was too giddy to fall asleep, it made me so happy! (I read the review about 1 am .') **

**-AND-**

**Naruto! SOMEONE FINALLY TELLS ME WHO IT'S BY! I found out it was called Absolutely a couple months ago, but I knew stupid Wiki was lying to me about the artist! (it came up with something stupid like 3 Doors Down or that kinda junk. That is NOT how 3 Doors Down sounds like! Grr, don't edit Wiki if you're not sure!) So yeah, I guess I was too lazy before to change it on my profile, but THANK YOU for solving my mystery ^^ (It's changed now)**

**Lol, you should both get accounts, I had to wait til I came back to thank u T-T **

**Also! There were still quite a few people who were confused about the pairings for this story, so I layed it all out on my profile. .....cept it sounds real harsh XD Don't worry, I didn't mean to be harsh, that was the THIRD TIME I had to write that stupid thing! My computer kept losing connection! T-T (And even when I copied it the second time, it turns out it DIDN'T copy so I that's how come I had to rewrite it 3 TIMES -_-') So ignore the annoyedness sounding ^^'**

Chapter 6: Coward

~*~

_I'm drunk and I'm feeling down_

_And I just want to be alone_

_I'm pissed cuz you came around_

_Why don't you just go home_

~Scars by Papa Roach

~*~

Dreams tend to be helpful, that is if you can somehow maneuver your way through the chaos of an alternate reality where logic is just another word in the dictionary like truth. After you figure out that the dancing giraffe was the animal cracker you ate that day and you wonder if you've seen a little too much of a certain drama when the main characters turn up being the main characters of your latest dream sequence, you find yourself deep in your own subconscious. Most dreams hint to true feelings at past events and present fears you may or may not thought yourself to be free off, but some hint to the future, though it's highly unlikely for the person to realize that to be true until after the event.

Nightmares are the same, and that's why they scare us. When our subconscious projects horrific realities plagued by our worst fears, it's hard to believe that it could be connected to our present reality in any way and form. To think they could be informing us of the future? That's particularly unbearable. Especially for Naruto who didn't need to decode any of his dreams. He knew exactly what was locked deep in his subconscious and wished for once he could have just one dream that wasn't haunted by his hate, his fear, and his acceptance of the strongest of the demons which he housed. He wished he could be as blissfully ignorant as his mask was.

But you can't control your subconscious, and the blonde boy was tossing and turning in his sheetless white hospital bed engrossed in yet another horrible nightmare. The dream started innocent enough, the teen had been hanging out with his friends all talking and laughing at nothing significant. On his left, slightly behind him, was Sasuke with an ever present smirk, and on his right, slightly in front of him, was Hinata without her infamous blush. Despite the fact he was in the dream, Naruto knew this was wrong. In the same way that one might feel déjà-vu during the day, or even during a dream, the blonde knew that the dream was wrong. Sasuke had always been in front of him to his right, and Sakura was supposed to be beside him on his left.

Looking around the circle, he didn't see any other changes besides the switching of spots and the boy frowned feeling out of place. He'd had enough nightmares to realize when he was having one, and this one felt like a nightmare, but so far it wasn't. It hadn't started in the middle like normal…it'd started from the beginning? The laughter around the teen had started dying down when he'd stopped laughing along with them, and now that he sat there, openly staring at them with a confused and fearful expression, they were all silent. Finally the whiskered boy felt a poke in his side.

"Dobe." Naruto swiveled to face an angry faced Sasuke.

"Naruto-kun." Again, said boy turned toward the talking voice, this time belonging to a scared looking Hinata. At the sight of fear, Naruto began to relax. He really _was_in a nightmare. Any second the screaming would start and he'd realize he was turning in the fox. But it wasn't screaming that followed, it was yelling. Rising to their feet, the rest of the group was yelling unintelligibly to the blonde boy who had remained seated with a shocked expression. Their faces blurred into each other, but each one was looking at him. Looking down at his hands he saw that they were covered by the Kyuubi's chakra, and despite his confusion at his friend's unusual reactions, he stood uncertainly and began running, as if that was the right thing to do.

Behind him he could feel his friends following, but he wasn't even sure it was them, remembering how their faces had blended together. Looking back he saw that they were indeed his friends, each with a separate body, but their faces were covered with masks, each with bright lines moving to create different figures and expressions.

No! It was all wrong! Turning back, Naruto pushed himself to run harder but found that he couldn't. His legs felt weak, each step the blonde took drained him a little of the small amount of remaining energy. What was going on? What was happening? Without stopping the teen brought up his crimson covered arms and realized it wasn't the Kyuubi's chakra. It was _blood_. Now that he knew he was losing blood, he could feel his heart pumping loudly in his ears. Thump-Thump-Thump. Dropping his arms he continued running, but he could feel himself getting slower with each step. Thump-Thump-Thump. It occurred to the boy that this was a really weird heartbeat, but didn't dare stop running. Thump-Thump-Thump. Despite himself, he brought his hands to his ears ignoring the warm liquid that covered them. Thump-Thump-Thump. _Anything_ to stop the noise!

Thump-Thump-Thump.

The blonde boy knew by the way everything had suddenly gone black that he was now awake. Barely opening his left eye, he was blinded by a bright white light. Closing the eye with a groan, the teen brought his hands up to rub his eyes and happily noted that they weren't covered in blood. Even after rubbing the sleep from his eyes Naruto kept his hands in place over his eyes waiting for his now regular sounding, though quick, heartbeat to slow. He never thought he'd see the day where he'd wish for his old nightmares back, at least with _them_ he knew exactly what was going to happen and could always depend on that.

Thump-Thump-Thump.

With a jolt, the blue eyed boy sprang from his lying position to a sitting one at the familiar sound, though only now aware that it was not the beating of his heart at all.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sure enough, the source of the noise had been one Hatake Kakashi who was currently leaned against the wall next to the thick oak door with his left fist resting against the wood and his right hand clutching an infamous small orange book. The blonde's teacher raised the hand that was not holding the book open by its spine, but gave no other sign of acknowledgement of the young teen's salutation. But by now the other male was so used to his sensei's relaxed and uncaring demeanor that his lack of enthusiasm didn't bother him, much. "Aren't you supposed to knock _before_ you enter the room?"

"That is the common practice."

"I thought it was common curtsy." The older male shrugged, though awkwardly due to the fact he still had an arm leaned against the wall, in response as if their conversation was unimportant, but shut the book in his grasp and placed it into its normal storage spot of his weapons pouch.

"Either way, this isn't a common situation." Naruto rolled his cerulean eyes.

"_Still_, you just don't walk into someone's room while they're sleeping and watch them! Do you know how _creepy_that is?!¹" Again his sensei shrugged an unbalanced shrug while bringing his left arm to the back of his head.

"Wari, wari. The ANBU said you were awake. Could see where that got the idea though, what with all the noise you were making thrashing about." A blanket of silence fell over the two as each was waiting for the other to speak first. Finally, Kakashi coughed and cleared his throat. "Uh, would you like to, uh, talk about it? Your nightmare?"

It was hard for Naruto to his hide his smirk at his teacher's awkwardness. The jonin wasn't much for talking about his feelings, if anything he just gave advice on what he inferred to be the problem. Since the man had no idea what Naruto's problem was, he had to admit he didn't and actually listen. The blonde boy smiled.

"Sure!" The teen chirped. "Well, first off it wasn't really a _nightmare._It was actually a very good dream, see I was running and running cuz the ramen kept dancing off. Wait…is that a bad dream if I can't reach the ramen? Okay so maybe it was a nightmare, anyway—"

"Cut the act." Naruto stopped mid-rant, but the smile stayed in place.

"Whatcha talking—"

"Stop wearing a mask, that's how you got into this mess in the first place." Naruto kept smiling, but his eyes had tightened to slits.

"What do you know about how I 'got into this mess'?"

"You've been hiding important information from us." The older male stated coldly, motioning with his head to the still bloody bandage on his wrist. The blonde snorted, finally letting his smile fall.

"Like the mask every bothered you before."

"We didn't—"

"Oh, stop kidding yourself. If anyone knew, it was probably you. You saw that I wasn't happy, you knew it the first day you became sensei of team 7. But, you figured if I was strong enough to act happy, I didn't need your help. Besides, you were too busy worrying about _Sasuke_." The teen chuckled, though the chuckle was void of humor. "Too much like yourself to pass him up, right? Or maybe you were telling yourself that he was more _unstable_ and demanded more attention than the rest of us."

"That's not—"

"Please! You can't say you weren't _relieved_when Jiraiya and Tsunade took me and Sakura under their wings, can you? I'll give you that you felt guilty about favoring Sasuke, but obviously not enough to stop. Once we got even better teachers than you could ever _hope_tobe, you felt that you were forgiven, or maybe you were happy you got off easy." Naruto's voice got softer, but his gaze became harder. "But we didn't forget it, _I_ didn't forget. You can keep trying to make up for the past by doing now what you could have done years ago, but what's done is done and now you've got to live with the consequences."

Kakashi had been part of ANBU, at the young age of thirteen no less, and he knew how to keep a straight face, even without his mask on. However, he could not keep a straight face the more the boy in front of him talked. Each sentence hit him harder than the last, if the man didn't know any better he'd think he was caught in Itachi's mangekyou sharingan once again and was repeatedly getting stabbed for days. What's worse was it didn't hurt him because this was what Naruto thought of him, but that everything the teen was saying was _true_.

For years the older male had pushed these thoughts from his mind, threw himself into any mission he was given once he'd lost his team. They didn't need him, every one of them found a better teacher than he was and would ever be, and though they left him, Kakashi knew it was _he_ that betrayed them.

There was so many things he knew he should've done, knew he _could_have done if he'd just put in some more effort. He knew Sakura would've excelled in medical ninjutsu or genjutsu, but he never even thought her the simple ones he knew. At the very least he could've sent her to be trained by someone else, but he'd just ignored her and she eventually did that so on her own. The jonin had thought of using Naruto's bunshin to quicken his learning process after the mission to the land of Waves, but he'd always been hesitant to tell him. Even now he couldn't forget how disappointed and upset the young blonde had been when he said he wouldn't train him during the chunin exams, perhaps the biggest mistake he'd ever made when it came to team 7. He also knew he should've talked Sasuke out of revenge a lot earlier, but at the time he even put _that_ off. In the end, he didn't even help his _favorite_. Perhaps it would've been better if he _had_failed them as genin. No, it would've been better if he hadn't been the one assigned to them.

Naruto didn't know whether to feel guilty or giddy at the turmoil evident in his sensei's eyes. After all, it was what he'd been aiming for, the teen had _intended_to make the silver haired jonin suffer. Still, it wasn't as pleasing as he'd thought it'd be; maybe even a little too easy. Nevertheless, he watched the man writhe within his skin with interest, waiting for his reaction. Finally, the other male came to turns with his thoughts and Naruto could see the slump of his shoulders indicating defeat. Time for the final blow.

"Why don't you do me a favor and stay out of my life. Things turn out better for me when you do." Alright, it wasn't the best he could do. Certainly he could have thought of something that'd really break the tortured man in front of him, but he didn't want him to have some kind of mental breakdown. Mostly the cerulean eyed boy just wanted his sensei out of his way, and he knew what he had said would be enough.

Sure enough, the masked man glanced at his pupil one last time, his eyes silently begging for forgiveness, before nodding and leaving the room, stiffly but quickly. Again, Naruto felt a little guilty at hurting the adult so thoroughly, but it needed to be done if he wanted to be left alone.

"Ouch. Bit harsh weren't ya?" The blonde twisted where he sat in surprise towards the new voice. The door leading towards the bathroom which had been shut just moments ago was now wide open revealing a slightly large white haired man.

"Ero-senin?!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Kakashi's not your only sensei who's worried about ya. Speaking of which, what was all _that_ about?" The teen lowered his eyes unable to look at the older man as a new wave of guilt crashed through him. The boy mumbled something incoherent, but offered no real explanation. Folding his arms, the other man crossed the room in a few large steps and leaned his back against the wall besides the blonde's bed.

"Still waiting for an answer."

"He knows it's true." Naruto mumbled again, though this time the older man understood it. The sannin laughed.

"Well ain't that a load of crap. And even if some parts were true, you sure laid it on thick didn't you." The teen glared at his sensei.

"Hey! I did what I had to do."

"What? Make the poor man run away like a kicked puppy? Mighty big of you."

"What do you know, huh? He didn't want to know my life story before I cut, but now that he knows he acts like he could come be my savior or something like that! He has no right!" The old man just laughed again.

"You sound like some after academy special!² 'No right', ha! That man was your squad leader; he has every right you just said." Naruto growled.

"He never cared about me!"

"Of course he did! Sure he didn't tuck you in at night or rub circles on your back as you cried, but the guy always had your best interest at heart."

"It wouldn't have killed him to help me out every once in a while!" Jiraiya just shook his head in response, fueling the Kyuubi container's rage. "And who do you think _you _are! You weren't much help either! Nine out of ten nights you'd disappear and show up drunk about five a.m.! Do you know how _lonely_ I was?"

"Cry me a river kid. You act like I neglected you or something. I trained you didn't I? Gave you the attention you so _desperately_ begged for."

"I didn't beg for anything!" Again the older man laughed.

"Please! You were like a little puppy³."

"That's not who I really am." Jiraiya shrugged.

"Fine, it isn't. But you just admitted that you were lonely, that you _wanted_me to be there. That's true, ain't it?" Naruto gritted his teeth together at the way his sensei was using his words against him and glared.

"That doesn't mean I begged for attention!"

"You are now ain't ya? I have reasons for everything I do. I'll admit some are selfish and some are just for my novels, but I've got reasons nonetheless. Still, I took ya under my wing; I said I'd teach you when you were, as you put it 'ignored'. Didn't have to go out of my way like that, but I did. I like ya enough to do so. But I still had my own life to take into account, so stop acting like it was personal or intentional. Your life sucks, we've all got that even if we don't know how bad, but give us some slack when we're trying to help."

The blonde growled again, tearing his gaze away from his mentor so the man couldn't see his guilt. Naruto didn't really blame anything on his former guardian; he was one of the few people he would always be thankful for. The man had helped him get stronger, though he didn't completely agree with his reason for wanting to do so, and he had willingly chosen to do so. He told Naruto stories and jokes, taught him the way of the land and of life. The blonde would even say the man was the closest person to a father besides Iruka he had (though perhaps he was closer to a perverted grandfather or uncle if he thought about it).

No, he wasn't upset with him like he was with Kakashi. Even if he did get lonely sometimes when traveling with the dirty man, Jiraiya always seemed to make up for it later, intentionally or not. But he had his reasons for trying to push him away as he did with Kakashi…

"I've got a question." Naruto snapped out of his thoughts as the silence which had fallen over the room was broken. "Don't know if I wanna know the answer, but the stupid thing is giving me a mighty big headache."

"Shoot," the blonde said with a grimace, fearing what the question may be.

"Did you ever do it—I mean, did you ever _cut_," the man said the word like he'd taken a large drink grimy mud brown sewer water instead of lemonade, "while you were with me?"

The teen flinched and sighed. He didn't want questions, especially ones like this. Should've known, should've known… Clenching his eyes shut, he struggled to remember if he had, though he truly hoped he hadn't. Of all the questions his sensei could have asked…

"Yes." It was Jiraiya's turn to flinch, causing Naruto to hurry on. "But not on purpose."

"How do you _cut_ yourself on _accident_? I'm not talking about no kunai slipping or vegetable chopping here—"

"No, and I'm not either." The blonde sighed; bring his hands up to his eyes and rubbing them in frustration. Why couldn't he just go away? Everyone wanted him to talk, but he had nothing to say. "I'd wanted to. I wanted so desperately to cut myself, but…"

"When?" Naruto sighed again.

"It was near the beginning, not too long after Sasuke had betrayed us and when we had left. I couldn't stop seeing his face, it was always smirking at me, and in the background I'd always see that _snake_." Jiraiya watched him intently. He'd always seen Naruto tossing and turning at night, but the boy had never answered what they had been about.

"You were out again when I woke up screaming. I didn't know what I was doing until I had the kunai in my hand. It was cold and it was shaking, well _I_was shaking, but I don't think I realized that. When I saw the sharp edge, I didn't think I could do it. A little voice in my head, one that sounded a lot like teme's, kept calling me a coward. I got angry and yelled at the voice that I could do it, bringing the knife to my flesh in the process." Despite himself, the battle hardened ninja shuddered. The way the boy seemed to have detached himself from reality and how he talked as if remembering a midnight stroll made the sannin uneasy to say the least.

"But there I stopped again. I could hear my heartbeat, feel it pounding in my ears. My hands were still shaking and I couldn't make myself go through with it. I'd pulled the kunai away from my leg and I thought I was going to cry." The boy closed his cerulean eyes.

"I couldn't remember how long it'd been since I'd felt so weak. No, I knew exactly how long, the last time I failed. But I didn't cry. Nah, I ended up laughing." The teen grinned humorlessly. "Cuz guess what, I _hadn't_failed. I was shaking so much I'd nicked my skin in the process. It was such a tiny cut, small as a papercut, but it made me laugh so much. Guess I was hysterical or something because I couldn't stop. I guess _that_ was the first time I cut, but I didn't really mean to so I guess I never thought of it that way."

Naruto gave a small laugh. How ironic that he'd started and gotten caught _accidentally_cutting. Jiraiya wasn't lying when he'd said Naruto's life sucked. The room settled into another silence.

"Was that the only time?" The blonde nodded.

"Didn't try again until sometime after we came back to Konoha."

"Do you know when?"

"Nope," Naruto grinned. "Sorry, but I think you got about all you're about to get outta me for now." Jiraiya grinned as well, though it was half-hearted.

"Shoot, and here I was hoping I could squeeze a bit more before I had to leave." The teen's grin dropped into a frown in an instant.

"Leave? Where?"

"Sorry kid, but I've got another adventure ahead of me. Bad timing, I know, but there's plenty of girls out there that need deflowering!"

"Arg! You dirty old perv!"

"I'm not that old!"

"Says who? Certainly not those wrinkles!"

Even as they argued both could feel the tension and disappointment that had fallen over them. After a while they both just stopped arguing, and the silence just accentuated their feelings. Eventually it just got too awkward, and though neither wanted the older man to leave, there was no point in him staying here any longer. With a quick goodbye and threat that he'd be in contact with Tsunade and planned to receive weekly updates on his 'condition', the sannin bid his pupil a last farewell leaving the blonde alone in the annoyingly white room.

Naruto sighed. At least he was alone. No more pestering, no more awkward silences and, thankfully, no more yelling. The teen had barely finished his thought when he heard a knock on the door and he swore.

`-,-` (what kinda face is that?!) :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ `-,-` :-# :-$ Oo

The sun was already up when Sasuke woke up. In fact, it was not only up but shining irritatingly bright through his small bedroom window, its rays landing directly in his face. Groggily the teen attempted to hit the light away, only to end up hitting his face in the process. Now somewhat coherent, he turned to his bedside and jumped from his bed when he saw just how late it was. Personally, Sasuke wasn't really a morning person, but Uchihas did not, do not, sleep in.

Swearing as he went, the onyx eyed male ran about the room as quickly as he could looking for clothes and other necessities he needed to start the day. He was doing fairly well too, only running into his dresser once and stubbing his toe against the bed a couple of times, considering sleep still clouded his mind and that he was busy thinking of whether he had forgotten to set his alarm the night before. Finally, he managed to finish tugging his shirt on as he bounded from his room, headed towards the kitchen.

Again, Uchiha Itachi was seated in his normal chair at the table, sipping tea as he had the night before.

"Good morning."

"If it can still be considered morning," Sasuke growled. "Why didn't you wake me up!"

"You could use the rest."

The younger of the two rolled his eyes. He neither was in the mood, nor had the time, to argue about what he did and did not need. There were places he had to go and people he needed to see. That being said, he passed past the kitchen, heading towards the door, not caring that he was skipping breakfast. Sliding his shoes on as he went, Sasuke opened the door. Before he could even realize what was happening, a flash of orange darted between the teen's legs and out into the yard. Despite his rush, the Uchiha froze for a second. Was the kitten allowed outside? Would it get lost and never come back? Did he care if it did?

"Don't worry, he'll come back."

Even with his shinobi instincts the younger male hadn't completely turned until his brother had finished the sentence. The boy felt a twinge of anger and jealousy towards his brother and the way he always managed to catch him off guard. Since Itachi's return, Sasuke tended to forget that his brother was still overwhelmingly powerful. Despite the fact that he was going blind, the man still seemed to know exactly what his otouto was doing while he was in the house and what's more, what he was thinking. It irked the teen that his aniki acted so _caring_despite all the power he had. Even though Sasuke tried to change his ways of thinking, he _had_spent a majority of his life doing everything and anything in his power to gain strength, not even caring who he hurt in the process, and to see Itachi blatantly ignore his strength by playing house was a slap in the face to the young Uchiha.

Sasuke shook the thoughts from his head. He shouldn't care, but the fact was he did. Still, now was not the time to consider how he felt about his older brother _or_ the stupid orange cat. He strode from the house, but was keenly aware that he was being followed. Not bothering to be inconspicuous, the teen looked over his shoulder without stopping.

"Where are _you _going?"

"I am also going to the hospital." Itachi said as though it should have been obvious. Sasuke stopped walking, though the older Uchiha did not.

"How did you know I was going to the hospital?"

"You're far easier to read than you believe you are otouto," the brother answered vaguely as he passed the teen. With a growl, Sasuke walked quickly to not only catch up with the other male, but pass him as well.

"Fine, then what business do _you_ have there?"

"Meeting someone, just as you are." Sasuke opened his mouth to say something more, but thought better of it. There was no need to waste his breath if Itachi's answers would just bring up more questions.

Thankfully the walk there was short, and the two siblings walked into the building without saying another word. As Sasuke walked in he was hit by the strong smell of ammonia and bleach disinfectants. The scent was so strong it made the raven haired teen want to gag, but he didn't for appearance's sake. Turning behind him, he found that his brother had already disappeared, for which he didn't know whether to feel glad or uneasy. Instead of dwelling on his brother's magic act, the Uchiha walked up to the check in center, only to find no one stationed there. Sasuke sighed in irritation. Did people know that he was in a hurry and had created some conspiracy against him? Paranoid as that sounded, he was begging to think it might be true.

After ten minutes of standing at the desk, each minute a slow dripping electric green goo that swallowed him and stole a bit of what little patience the teen had as it passed, a nurse finally came in.

"Oh! Hello, I'm sincerely sorry for the wait. We're extremely short staffed right now and I'm working the desk _and_the first floor, not to mention Sumi just asked if I'd cover her next shift." The woman, probably in her late twenties, laughed, and though the situation she'd just described sounded anything but pleasant, her laugh made it seem as if it didn't bother her at all. "So what can I help you with, sir?"

"I'm looking for a patient," the ebony eyed boy said as best he could without gritting his teeth. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Sure-tainly!" The nurse grinned, and in the back of his mind Sasuke begged that this wasn't one of his fangirls…or a future one. After a couple minutes of searching, the female frowned. "Um, I'm sorry. But I have no record of a mister Uzumaki Naruto being checked in."

"What." The teen said with a flat voice, but inside panic was rising within him. They hadn't caught him? They never found him! "Check again."

"Um, okay, but—"

"Check," the boy hesitated a minute, "please."

The lady behind the desk nodded, but before she could finish her second search, Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You can stop that search now Miss. It seems my brother is thoroughly confused. We're sorry for troubling you." The nurse nodded in relief, glad that she didn't have to deal with an upset visitor.

Sasuke opened his mouth to object, but the older male was already leading him away from the desk and had begun to talk before he could get the words out.

"He's in a room on the top floor, shouldn't be hard to miss." The young Uchiha stared at Itachi suspiciously, but allowed himself to be steered towards the stairs.

"And you know _how_." Itachi didn't answer, instead choosing to push the boy towards the stairs.

"Top floor." The man repeated, turning to leave.

"You're leaving?" Sasuke asked, trying to hide the surprise from his voice.

"Yes, I have to prepare the house."

Again, the teen was going to inquire what exactly was he preparing the house for, but stopped, deciding he might as well give it up. With a sigh, he trudged up the stairs hoping his brother hadn't just sent him on a wild goose chase of some kind.

: P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! : P $ ) ! _ ! ^ ^

The hallway Sasuke reached seemed abandoned. The doors had a dusty film covering them; spider webs were strung on the doorknobs. The scene was perfect for a horror movie, not for housing his mentally ill best friend. If it hadn't been for the yelling, he might have turned back right then. But then he heard it, loud though he couldn't make out a single word. Midway through the hallway was another door, and now that he noticed it he saw that unlike the other doorways it was clean and seemed in fairly good use. Without hesitating any longer than he'd already had, the teen made it down the hallway, reaching the door in five long strides. He'd begun to turn the doorknob when he felt another hand on his shoulder.

"Name." Pivoting on his heels, he turned to face a masked ANBU, though not the one he'd seen the night before.

"Uchiha Sasuke." He answered while simultaneously shaking his way out of the stranger's grasp.

"Purpose."

"I'm here to see Uzumaki Naruto." The ANBU paused, perhaps looking him over, and nodded.

"Very well, though it's not recommended."

"I don't care." The ANBU nodded for a second time.

"Wait until the Hokage's finished before entering the room."

Unsurprised that the fifth was here as well, Sasuke again reached for the doorknob. The metal turned easily in his palm, and though the door was heavy it slid open with ease. This hallway was nothing like the one before. The walls were freshly painted white, the floor recently cleaned, and heavily guarded. On each side of the door he entered stood two more ANBU, and at the end of the hall stood another. Vaguely the teen wondered if all these guards were stationed here for Naruto, or whether they'd followed Tsunade. Halfway down the hall, the Uchiha hesitated. Itachi never said which room…

"NO. Absolutely NOT!" Sasuke smirked at the familiar loudmouth, and traced the yelling to be coming from three rooms down on his right. The doors here were made of wood and had no windows in it, but the Uchiha would recognize that voice anywhere. As he neared the room, he heard another voice.

"—be reasonable."

"How bout _you_ don't ask for the IMPOSSIBLE."

"We both know you don't want to be locked up in a psychiatric ward."

"If this is my other option, BRING OUT THE STRAIGHT JACKET!"

"Naruto, please."

"Stop begging! Homeless people beg less than you do."

"This is for your own good!"

"Would you STOP saying _that_? If I hear _one more_ person say that to me, I swear I really WILL kill myself."

"It's true! And I'm doing my best to make everything as comfortable as can—"

"The only thing that's true is that you're trying to buy your way outta guilt."

"THAT'S IT! Do you know how hard it was to find a place for you to stay?!"

"YOU CAN LOCK ME IN A CELL FOR ALL I CARE! Send me to Ibiki and have me tortured for information! You CAN NOT send me there! I WON'T let you!"

"LISTEN brat! I've been jumping through hoops to help you, but I'm running out of hoops to jump through. There's plenty of other missions these ANBU could be out on if they weren't babysitting—"

"Well, THERE'S your problem! I'M NOT A BABY!"

"You're sure acting like one!"

"Stop treating me like one! We've already HAD this conversation! If I'm nothing but problems to you, just let me go already!"

"Oh no you don't! You're not getting off that easily. You need ANBU level surveillance and there's only one that isn't too busy to handle you." Sasuke, who had been standing against the wall content to listen, stiffened.

"I'm NOT staying with HIM." Oh no.

"You ARE and you WILL. End of story." As the sannin said that, she pushed open the door, stalked out, and slammed the thick door behind her. Automatically her eyes fell on the pale skinned boy who leaned tense on the wall.

"I suggest you not visit him right now. He was already a bit unstable with his morning guests and you…Honestly, expect to lose a limb or two." The fairly young looking woman shrugged her sagged shoulders, and didn't bothering talking to the teen anymore than that. It was obvious the boy had questions and she was _not_ in the mood for questions. All she wanted was some sake and to get some sleep.

Sasuke expected something more from the Hokage, at least some kind of explanation or confirmation that the blonde was staying with _him_like he inferred. But after saying those few words, the Godaime walked quickly out the hall, only one ANBU following behind her. Once she left him, though he was not alone because two ANBU still remained in the hallway, the teen stood outside his best friend's room confused.

He had every intention to walk in there, despite his friend's anger, despite the fight he knew was going to come from it, and despite the fact that he knew it'd probably only make things worse, but…perhaps it really _was_a bad time. The blonde would rather be in a straight jacket than with him for kami's sake, and he didn't take Tsunade's warning lightly either (though there was certainly no way Naruto had any weapons in his possession). After that heated argument, he might just drive his teammate over the edge by being there. But the answers! Sasuke needed to know why. Why hide his feelings, why lie to everyone, why cut?

However…if he _was _staying with him, he'd know in due time. It wasn't likely that the dobe would tell him anything now anyway, not in this state. Even though it drove him insane, Sasuke would just have to wait until later. Hopefully his friend's anger would diminish over time.

With all those excuses in mind, Sasuke made his decision and headed back towards the door he'd entered. As he passed, he heard the ANBU mutter, "good choice," but ignored him. Running was rarely a good choice and right now the Uchiha felt like a coward.

¹ Not when Edward does it XD Sorry, Twilight slipped into my mind…again ''

² Instead of after school special? Ha! Could u imagine what those would be like? "Johnny, I know you just lost both your parents, and your sister died on a mission, but drop the explosive note." Wow, I think strange : P

³ Jiraiya has puppies on the brain, well technically I do since I'm writing it XD

**Good morning everybody!!! (That's an oxymoron, but whatever, prob afternoon by the time I get this thing up -_-')**

**Jiraiya is alive ^^ I actually liked writing this Naruto part, but I can't decide who I liked talking as more: Naruto cuz he got to bust out Kakashi (very pleasing) or Jiraiya cuz he got to bust Naruto (payback : P) I think Jiraiya was funner (SO A WORD!!)**

**So YES I am back. Mexico was er…interesting? XD Basically everything that COULD go wrong WENT wrong. Ran out of clothes the first day, stupid dog pooped in the hotel room (he was mad at us for leaving him alone…attention addict, oh well, he got his revenge), crooked cops made us pay $100 (American, might I add), got stuck in side buildings while they tried to cover up a protest (my parents still joke that the probably would've arrested me thinking I was part of the rally…I wasn't even dressed that emo or punk that day! XD), we got to stay in a lovely spider/scorpion infested house (I KNEW it was the same house I remembered getting attacked by ants and 2 dead scorpions in when I was like 7!), chased by a swarm of bees, and much much more : D Bright side!: Got to see my cousins…some of which WOULD NOT LET ME GO!!! ("I can't walk when you're grabbing my leg, chicito.") ^^**

**Anyway, SORRY THE CHAPTER'S SEMI-SHORT (shorter than I'd like at least). I had a whole other part I wanted to add, but I got terribly sick on Sat (felt like someone was pounding me in the head with a hammer while simultaneously kicking me in the stomach!) so I lost a whole day's worth of writing. I tried to make up for it on Sun…but even writing most of the day I couldn't get to it T-T And if you're wondering why I couldn't just post it a day or so later…**

**I'M LEAVING AGAIN ^^ (Omg! Don't kill me!) I'm sorry T-T This time me and PU (parental units) are off to Costa Rica!!! (Hopefully I'll be all better by then .') DON'T WORRY THOUGH! I'll only been gone for about a week, so the update should only be a few days late!!! (Ha, first I was gone for about 3 weeks, then 2, now 1 : P) So, yeah, dunno y this year seems to be the year to travel! (Most of my friends are going on some wild adventures too ^^')**

**Beta spot is still open! Need someone who can set up a connection, cuz I use the DocX thing on fanfiction here ^^**

**Oh! Time for my random Q! (I'm so full of them, I may very well explode –nod, nod-) **

**What's your favorite part of the story? ^^**

**BONUS POINT: Can you find all the cowards in this chapter? XD (Why's too peeps! : P)**

**R~E~V~E~I~W, I need them reviews to recharge my writer's battery! (If you don't, all that comes out is poetry O.o) **

"**My eyes sting lime green blotches on charcoal burnt concrete, my fingers screaming at the stench of chili covered eyeballs in fresh broth as the keyboard slowly swallows them—" **

**GAH! PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!! T-T**


	7. Break

**Disclaimer- Don't own…whatever anime I'm writing about…Nana? Nope, wrong one…Ninjas? Closer…Oh! The Chronicles of the Orange Clad Annoying Ninja!!! ^^ Also known as: Naruto : )**

**THE BEST NOT SODA, SODA (I.E. Delaware Punch!) TO: **Kingkakashi, Draikinator, littlesnowfarie2005, Midnight-Shadow-Wolfling, makura moderski, durkheim_aka_sasunaru**, **Kurenai-Loves-Kakashi**, **PimaBean, Immortal Fallen Angel, vivi-vixen, Xiashadow**, **Aachen**, **Hokage Hinata Hyuga, foreverboundtopain, alexa-catta123**, **thechiifactor, Rachel McN, and LovelySinner7 **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND WHATEVER GRAPE SODA THEY SELL IN THE STATES TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^ (What's it called?! Arg! I never drink it so I dunno)**

**Thanks for all ur feedback to my q's! I loved hearing ur fav parts, and as for naming all the cowards… Rachel McN, U WIN!!!! (She's the only one who mentioned me XD)**

Chapter 7: Break

~*~

_You waitin for someone_

_To put you together_

_You waitin for someone _

_To push you away_

_There's always another_

_Wound to discover_

_There's always something more_

_You wish he'd say._

~Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon

~*~

One could tell that Hyuuga Hinata was a rule follower just by looking at her. Perhaps it was the way she kept her head slightly tilted towards the earth or perhaps the way she allowed stray pieces of hair to hide her face, but it only took one look to know she'd concede to even the most utterly ludicrous rules that were in place. Normally, that would be absolutely true. Right now, however, she was in the process of sneaking out of her bedroom window.

Surprising? Hardly. The girl was known to ignore any orders that came between her and a certain blonde, though perhaps risking her place as head of the Hyuuga clan and having a caged bird seal placed on her was a bit much for love. (But then again, true love tis not true love without extreme consequences.)

As much as there was at stake, Hinata didn't let this slow her down in the slightest. After a surprisingly uneventful sleep (the teen was sure her dreams would have been plagued by the last image she had of Naruto, but it had never even crossed her mind and that fact caused her more than a little guilt), the Hyuuga had awoken early, at least as early as she could without arising suspicion, eaten a fairly small morning meal, then returned to her room stating that she was not feeling well and wished to rest. There she made a shadow clone, which I might add took a lot more energy than she had expected (though it's unsurprising she'd get the wrong idea from watching Naruto make dozens without giving it a second thought), and began her escape through the same window an unexpected visitor had entered the previous night.

It was simple, really. All one truly had to do was open the window, stick one leg outside, and swing the rest of one's body out, but the task took Hinata five grueling minutes to complete. It seems things like this took longer when one keeps stopping at every sound, and the Hyuuga teen was doing just that. In fact, she was probably attracting _more _attention by pausing mid-escape rather than finishing what the girl had started and hiding somewhere afterwards. Luckily, none of the sounds the dark haired teen heard were followed by the sounds' creators. Eventually, however, she did make it outside and despite her still being within the Hyuuga compounds, she took a large sigh of relief. She'd managed to successfully escape her room and she could not help but be proud of doing so without anyone being aware of her jailbreak.

"What do you think you're doing?" With a squeak comparable to a mouse's, the girl spun on her heels with a very pink, embarrassed face. She wasn't surprised to see Hyuuga Neji standing not five feet in front of her, she had recognized his voice, but she _was_ surprised to see he wasn't angry.

"I, uh, I was—I," she stuttered, fumbling for some logical explanation for climbing out her window. Finding none, she settled for: "When did you get back?"

"Earlier," the elder cousin answered vaguely as he continued to stare, with what seemed to be an amused expression, though it could very well be one of annoyance.

A wary and awkward, on Hinata's part, silence followed the reply. It was obvious that Neji was still waiting for the guilty girl to explain the unusual circumstances she was found in, but even with this new opportunity to come up with an excuse, she was unable to find one. She racked her brain for an answer of some kind, but she hadn't considered what she'd say once she was caught. It hadn't been an option; her capture was as good as her trail and sentencing, so she'd never considered her defense. But here in front of her was her one opportunity at a second chance; the one small, but likely, possibility that, due to his absence the night before, her cousin knew nothing about the trouble she'd gotten herself in. Yet, she _still_ could not come up with a reason she'd been climbing out a window! The lack of rule breaking gave her little experience or preparation for situations like her current one where it truly mattered.

"Your father will be extremely upset if he finds you out of the house." Instantaneously, the pink color faded from Hinata's face, along with any color that had previously resided there with it. So the jonin did know of her situation.

Despite what this meant, the Hyuuga heiress, though for how much longer she could be called so was now unsure, felt relieved. She would have felt bad for having lied to Neji, especially about something of this caliber. If it was later found out that he'd seen her prior to her escape, he too would have faced serious consequences and it was not in her nature to let others suffer because of her blunders. However, his knowledge meant that her getaway had come to its untimely end. Hinata would now be stripped of her status, sealed, and disowned. But none of the mattered to her; what truly made her heart drop was the fact that she hadn't managed to see Naruto first.

After what seemed to be an insurmountable amount of time, though in reality it was but a few seconds that felt lengthier due to the amount of thought occurring in the teen's mind, Neji spoke again.

"You'd better be hurrying." The monotone statement sent a jolt of pure electricity through Hinata. She stared unbelieving at the man she considered a brother with utter shock and surprise.

"Wh—What?"

"I said your father will be extremely upset if he finds you out of the house. I don't understand why you continue to stand here instead of making your escape while you still can." The male Hyuuga spoke calmly and seemed indifferent to the situation, but the words continued to hit the other teen hard with their meaning.

"But—you'll get in trouble!" The elder shrugged unconcerned.

"Perhaps. However, if you don't get caught then I won't get caught." As if it was as simple as that, the teen turned to walk away. Mid-step he stopped. "Tell Naruto I send him greetings. You can inform me of the details of his situation later."

The girl nodded, though it seemed that her head was detached from her mind which lagged behind her body in shock. In seconds the older male had disappeared around the corner, but Hinata stood rooted to her spot, still numbed by her cousin's actions. As if to give the girl a push forward, laughter flitted from around the opposite building's corner alerting all to an incoming group of branch members. Without making a sound, the rogue Hyuuga slipped over the compound walls and into the shadows of Konoha's buildings, slowly but surely making her way toward wherever they held her love where she hoped a blonde genin awaited her.

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Now, Hinata had thrown caution to the wind when planning her escape, but she had no intentions to bringing attention to herself once she'd made it from her own makeshift prison. Before making her way into the main part of the village she'd created a small genjutsu over herself, taking the form of a nameless low chunin level shinobi with unremarkable thin brown hair and dark brown eyes. The disguise worked like a charm, and amidst the growing crowd of the daily mid-day rush, she became yet another face amongst a mass of people.

Where she was headed, however, was still under consideration. There were few places where one could store a mentally ill patient in Konoha. The places one could house a mentally ill shinobi were even smaller in number. In fact, besides somewhere among Konoha's prison cells and in the Hokage tower itself, there was only the hospital and a rehabilitation center, but the latter was located outside the village.

Hinata hoped, perhaps vainly, that the Godaime would not lock Naruto within a cell and if she wished to remain inconspicuous she couldn't very well waltz into the Hokage tower demanding to know of the blonde's location (not only would that receive quite a few suspicious looks, but if she was forced to reveal her true identity her father would know of it almost immediately.) This left the undercover teen with two choices: the hospital and the rehabilitation center. Among those two, the former was perhaps the unproblematic choice, with its in-village location and fairly low surveillance levels. Actually, now that she'd deliberated, she realized that there'd been nothing to debate of. She was already walking in the direction of the hospital! My, Hinata even worried about herself at times such as these.

Thankfully, the walk to the teen's destination was close and after a small amount of time, she arrived. As she neared the gate, she hesitated. As already stated, she couldn't very well walk inside the building and demand to know the blonde's location. Even if news didn't spread as fast here as it would have if she stormed into the Hokage tower, but Hinata lacked the extremely important and essential information of whether anyone had been informed of Naruto's arrest. The attending nurse might get suspicious of how she knew he was here. What's more, the girl was still in _disguise_. The orange clad boy was not intensely popular throughout Konoha, and having a stranger ask to visit him might spread quickly through the gossiping network. Investigations were still on the bottom of her priorities list, leaving her to be more creative in her means of receiving information.

But then again, Hyuugas were gifted in that very field.

After taking refuge among the nearby shrubbery, the dark haired brunette lowered her genjutsu and pushed a fairly large amount of her chakra to her eyes while whispering, "byakugan!" Her field of view changed instantly before her eyes. The thick concrete walls of the hospital were transparent in front of her revealing several dozens, if not a hundred, or so chakra systems, each belonging to a reasonably distinct person, the distinctness depending on how far they were and how much she concentrated on them. A new doubt slipped into the girl's mind. How exactly was one to distinguish Naruto among so many people?

However, even this problem seemed to be solved by itself. She'd watched the hospital no more than twenty seconds when she saw a flare of chakra from the far right corner of the hospital. A hint of a smile graced Hinata's face. There was hardly a need to check the source to make sure it'd been from Naruto, but after doing so anyway she raised the genjutsu once more and made her way into the hospital.

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Perhaps it was wrong of her to allow her hopes to rise as she made her way up the hospital steps without any nuisances, but Hinata could not help but think that she'd worried too much about being caught. Possibly it was as simple as seeming as if you had permission to be here, and the confidence to match.

Nevertheless, those hopes eventually backfired on the teen. At the top of the stairs the girl was shocked to come face to face with a vacant dilapidated hallway. Hesitantly, she lowered the genjutsu once more, as there was no reason to maintain an energy wasting technique if there wasn't anyone to notice her. However, it seemed she was caught within an infinite sequence of mistakes, for as soon as she'd lowered the jutsu an ANBU appeared in front of her.

Once again, the girl squeaked in surprise, so loudly in fact that it was nearly a screech. Despite the agonizingly loud noise, the ANBU hadn't even flinched.

"Purpose?"

"I'm, um, I'm here to visit Naruto-kun." The ANBU gazed at the girl, an unnerving sensation Hinata wished she'd never experienced.

"Are you not the girl Uzumaki-san was with last night?" Though it was impossible to distinguish his expression due to the mask, it was easy to perceive that he was more than a little amused. And as red began to spread across the teen's face, you could almost hear him chuckle (or perhaps this was all the affect of her self-consciousness.)

"Um, yes! But, um…" With a nod, the ANBU stepped aside.

"Very well. He's located just beyond that door, third door on the right." Hinata nodded, and as she took a step forward she realized she'd been shaking. When she made it to the door at the far end of the hall, she stopped once more.

"Um, please, um,"

"Your father will not be informed of your visit." Visibly deflated, the teen turned the knob and exited the hallway; certain she heard quiet laughter behind her.

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After being caught off guard by the first ANBU, she was in no way affected by the two standing on either side of the door she entered. (However, the teen was a bit shaken feeling their gaze follow her every step as she walked down the hallway.)

When Hinata finally reached the correct door, she experienced the most unusual sensation. Despite all the trouble she'd gone through to arrive here, to make it to this moment, she was unhappy to be here. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to be able to turn back right now and return to her room. It wasn't as if she didn't want to see her love, it was that…no, she feared it was exactly that. Even now, she could not conjure up the faintest idea of what lurked behind the thick wooden door within her grasp. A dark shadow invaded her mind as she tried to picture an energetic blonde lying in a hospital bed. Just as she'd thought the image of him would haunt her dreams, the inability to _not_ picture him haunted her waking moments. Now that she'd managed to find him, now that she had him merely feet in front of her, she could not deny this fact. This was not her Naruto.

This realization did not hit the girl hard, nor did it come suddenly. In fact, she'd known it long before she'd arrived in the hospital, perhaps she'd even know it all along. The boy from the last two days could not be her Naruto, even the enthusiastic Naruto of before could not be _her_ Naruto. For quite a bit of time, she'd realized she'd built this persona for the blonde boy, this ultimate being that no one could dream of living up to, but that he had so far. Despite believing she was a "down to earth" sort of girl, she had imagined a figure without flaws and weaknesses from a true life inspiration.

No, that couldn't be true either. She'd recognized weakness in the true being that was Naruto; now, she'd even come to realize the boy had fatal flaws, an Achilles' tendon so to speak. But she'd taken the weaknesses in stride, amounting that his ability to succeed despite these handicaps as a surer sign of strength. However, the figure the night before, the one even now she could not imagine made her question if he had overcome these faults. Last night was proof that her hero was nothing but a sham, and she could not believe her hope was based on such a hoax. Perhaps that was why her mind would not allow her to remember him as he was; perhaps that was why her mind begged for her not to continue on her quest to see Naruto once more. But as she came to accept this heartbreaking theory, she came to another realization.

It didn't matter. Whether the boy beyond the door lived up to her expectations didn't matter. Whether it hurt her to see him in such a bad condition didn't matter either. What mattered was that he became well again. To leave now because she wished to keep a false image intact would not only be the most selfish act she'd have ever committed, but perhaps the most selfish decision she could ever make. She still loved him, or whatever it was that she loved about him. She couldn't leave him now.

So despite the fact that her heartbeat was agonizingly fast, or that her mind reeled with these thoughts, she turned the door handle.

Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ Oo +_+ T-T

"You can't change my mind, baa-chan! I'm NOT going!" Hinata paused at this unusual greeting. She still had a chance to back out if she wished; she'd yet to be recognized as her foot was the only part of her body inside the hospital dorm. Shaking these thoughts from her mind with a visible shake of the head, the teen continued to walk into the room.

"HINATA! Sorry bout that! Thought you were baa-chan," the blonde boy lying on the bed said once she'd come into the line of vision as he raised one arm to rub the back of the head.

Seeing as Hinata had been unable to portray the scene before her in her mind, she didn't know what to make of the picture in front of her. The room, though colored and designed to be calming, terrified the girl. The blank off-white walls screamed at her senses, irritating her sensitive eyes and causing her mind to run wild with all the colorful scenes that could be painted on the blank canvases of the walls. The emptiness of the room caused her to experience a minor case of agoraphobia. And at the center of this void monochrome room was the brightest blemish of yellow.

It was…peculiar, to say the least, to see the boy whom was normally clad in orange in the pale white nightgown he now wore. The cloth was no less than two sizes too large for him, or perhaps the formless attire just made it seem so. The top of the gown hung from the teen's broad shoulder vaguely similar to the way it hung upon a hanger, for it seemed there was nothing inside the garment. Despite a full night having gone by, the fox like boy seemed as exhausted as the night previous, if not more so. Though she made an effort to gaze at anything but the blonde's arm, eventually her eyes strayed to that exact location. Luckily, the bloody bandage had been changed with a clean white one to match the room. It was easier to imagine that this was merely for style as other shinobi commonly used them for, but to see it still caused shivers to ascend her spine.

"Um, hello? Earth to Hinata, people are attempting to talk to you." Said girl's head snapped up to the boy's face, her eyes which had previously lingered upon the bandaged arm now locked on azure orbs. The blonde haired boy grinned. "There ya are! I thought you'd zoned out for good on me!"

Hinata smiled slightly genially, and averted her eyes that were tinged with embarrassment. However, Naruto's lighthearted spirit did little to reassure the girl. She felt ill at ease inside the room, her love's makeshift cell. For that was what she felt it was, a cell. She didn't belong in a cell, and moreover Naruto didn't either. It was beyond her perception to understand how the blonde in front of her could endure staying in such frightening quarters, let alone be comfortable and amiable. So she stood precariously in the middle of the room, trying to find something to look and something to say, wanting desperately to leave and powerless to do so.¹

Naruto must have realized this as well, for after a moment or two more of waiting, he riotously motioned for her to come. As if his hands were indeed reeling her in, she moved towards the boy with small, diffident steps, even though her heartbeat became louder and further unbearable the closer she got to him. When she did eventually reach the teen's bedside, he pounded the mattress signaling for her to sit, an offer she refused with the violent shake of her head. This didn't bother him in the least.

"Thanks for visiting Hinata-chan! I was beginning to believe that no one knows I'm here." Hearing the suffix 'chan' added to her name caused her to become a tad lightheaded, but she managed to keep enough hold on reality to hear the rest of what the male had said.

"Ano, I don't know if anyone does." Naruto frowned slightly.

"Well, they have me on file at the reception, right?" The Hyuuga shook her head in the negative.

"I don't know. I didn't ask."

"Then, how did you—"

"I used byakugan to find you." The frown on the boy's face deepened for an instant, but changed into a grin in one incredibly smooth transition.

"Man Hinata! You're sneakier than I thought! Oh! By the way, I didn't get you into too much trouble. Well, obviously it couldn't be that bad if you came to visit right?" Though the girl attempted to keep a blank face, she must have failed to keep the worry from gracing her features, for once again Naruto smile flipped into a frown. "Oh, you're not supposed to be here, are you?"

"No!" Hinata said quickly, attempting to redeem herself. "I mean, um, no. I guess not, father did ground me, but he doesn't know that I'm, um, here, so I'm okay for, um, now."

"You snuck out! Jeez, Hinata! I don't want you to get in trouble for me. Besides," Naruto added irritably, "your father doesn't like me."

"That's not true." The girl lied, still making an effort to save face, though she was failing miserably at doing so. "Father…just wasn't keen to the fact that, um, you'd been, um, in my, um, room at such an untimely hour." A small smirk snuck its way onto the teen's face, but the male was still intensely serious.

"Your father didn't like me even before last night. Your father has never liked me."

"That's not true either." She paused. Perhaps that was also partly true. Certainly Hiashi Hyuuga had taken a strong disliking to the boy after hearing of Hinata's escapades which tended to included him. But before that? She certainly didn't remember any other complaints geared towards Naruto, at least not since she'd become a genin.

That last thought seemed to have caused an epiphany within the girl. Instantly her memories cleared, and she distinctly remembered her father scorning the boy when she'd once brought the energetic blonde up while speaking to him. Prior to that, she had a slightly more indistinct memory of her father stating it'd be bad for someone of her status to be seen with "it." No, her father must have said, "him."

Though incredibly fixed on these thoughts and memories, she acknowledged that Naruto gave a small snort of disbelief. The hospital fell quiet following the sound. If Hinata had felt perturbed earlier, it was nothing compared to the uneasiness she felt within this unwelcomed silence. This inanimate force began to asphyxiate the poor girl. Eventually she could no longer stand it.

"How did you sleep?" The boy blinked his cerulean eyes once, then twice, completely caught off guard by the sudden question.

"I closed my eyes and waited."²

It was now the white-eyed girl's turn to blink in confusion. In response, the blonde laughed, causing a slight pink twinge to rise within her cheeks. Again, the automatic habit of pressing her fingers came forth, and instead of admitting her ignorance, she focused on them and their continuous battle against one another.

"That's just a joke. But, it wasn't much. Same ol', same ol', I guess. Tossing, turning, nightmares, you know, the works."

The teen smiled cheerfully as if speaking of fine weather rather than the inability to sleep soundly at night. As the words set in, Hinata felt another pang of guilt at the reminder that she'd not only slept peacefully, but that she hadn't even thought of her love, though he'd left under such traumatic circumstances.

"I'm sorry."

"You get used to it." Another silence followed this statement, but this time Hinata was hesitant to break it, despite how the lack of sound put her on edge.

"Ano, Naruto-kun." She paused.

"What Hinata-chan?" Naruto smiled encouragingly.

"…Why?" The smile vanished so suddenly from the male's face; one had to wonder if it'd been there at all. In its place was a sneer, though it also was only visible for a moment, for the blonde turned his features to face the opposite wall.

"Why what!" He demanded crossly, though it was obvious he knew precisely what the question had been.

Hinata didn't reply, refusing to state exactly what she'd meant, not because she felt she was above it or did not wish to waste time doing so, but because the teen knew she'd be unable to say it aloud. What's more, she was not only frightened of the boy's reply, but of the corresponding reaction. Though there was no doubt in her mind that he'd never hurt her, she couldn't say as much for himself. Eventually Naruto sighed impatiently.

"You know, I'm _sick_ of people asking me that! I'm sick of them giving me that _look_!" He glanced at her and cringed, before facing the wall again. "_That_ one. Erg, you guys are so _cautious_ and, and, _scared_." The boy's features changed to look disgusted. "It's like you think I might keel over any second. I'm not a piece of glass, I'm not _fragile_, I won't break if you touch me."

"I knew things would be bad if I got caught. But, _this_…it's agonizing!" There was a pause, and before she could think better of it, she divulged what she'd been thinking all along.

"Naruto-kun…I'm sorry."

"YOU'RE sorry." The blonde turned to her, surprise written upon his features and a frown on his face. "What do _you_ have to be sorry for? Did _you_ play favorites? Did _you _betray me? Do _you_ cut yourself?"

"No."

"Then?"

"I'm sorry for causing you pain."

Despite the fact that the words were an apology for hurting him, an act she'd hoped she'd never commit again, they seemed to do exactly that. The tan skin of his face scrunched in a look of pure agony, but before she could ask what was wrong, he answered her query.

"_Please_, do NOT say that, ever, EVER again." To Hinata's relief, Naruto laughed humorously. "And I thought _I_ was good at making people feel guilty. I am in awe of your magical abilities of mind manipulation!" As an added affect, the blonde even half bowed in worship of her. Hinata stared, once again confused.

"Ano, what—"

"Nothing, nothing. Did I tell you what Tsunade wants me to do yet?" The girl shook her head in the negative, slowly grasping the rapid change of conversation. "She expects me to stay with _teme_ until I am, 'better.'"

"Well, uh, at least you won't be locked inside the hospital." The blonde's shocked stare was her immediate reply.

"Are you NUTS? I can't stay with _him_! Not unless I get to kill him slowly and painfully!"

Indeed now that she stopped to think, she found that this was an outrageous comment, or at least this was so for Naruto. Had Sasuke not been the source of his anger the day before? Had he and his teammate not had some sort of conflict the previous night? She knew both those questions to be true; however, that was the extent of her limited knowledge of the two boys' anger at one another. But Hinata's lips seemed to not stay closed this day, for once again the very words she'd been thinking the day before and the words that presently plagued her mind slipped from her lips.

"Wh-why are you mad at Sasuke-san?"

Now, Hinata didn't know what reaction she'd been expecting to receive; however, she was aware that the one she did obtain was not it. Despite the earnestness of her inquiry and the necessity of a serious answer, Naruto merely glared at the bare wall across from him, while simultaneously crossing his arms in a huff.

"It's teme's fault I'm here in the first place. Stupid, nosy Uchiha can't leave a guy alone."

"Na-Naruto-kun, no, real—"

"It's teme's fault," the boy said slowly, accentuating each word as he turned slightly to look at her from his peripheral vision. "I'm here in the first place."

Perhaps it was because this was not what she'd been expecting, or perhaps it was for another reason entirely, but Hinata felt strange listening to the blonde's response. It was as if they were once again inside the clearing, and she had somehow caught a glimpse of the real Naruto, a glimpse at how his mind seemed to function, only to have it slip between her fingers. Though she'd proclaimed her love for him countless years ago, she'd spent more time with the teen in the last forty-eight hours than perhaps all those years combined. (However, she'd spent much more time watching him in those years.)

More over, these last couple of days she'd come to find that Uzumaki was indeed a true master of disguises. Certainly that what she must have experienced now and in the clearing, a switching of costumes between acts so to speak, for what else could explain how quickly the boy's personality seemed to change. But if this proved true, she was in awe of him, more so than she already was.

However, now was not the time to dwell on this new theory. She could still feel Naruto's cerulean eyes studying her, waiting for a response she did not have. Once again, she could not interpret this revelation. It aggrieved her that she could not find the significance in what should be apparent, and she what was worse was she was expected to have a response _now._ As if sensing she knew not what to say, or possibly it was all by chance, the same ANBU that had allowed her access opened the door.

"Pardon my intrusion, but Uzumaki-san will be leaving to Uchiha-san's home soon and it's best he got ready to leave."

"Well, if that's all, then Hinata can stay as long as she wants, cuz I'm not going _anywhere_." The two males then seemed to compete in a staring contest, though the ANBU's mask made it impossible to tell whether he was actually participating or not.

"Ano, I think—I should go. I shouldn't stay out very long." The white-eyed girl stayed a moment longer, switching the weight of her body from one foot to the other as she waited for Naruto to respond. He, however, did not break eye contact with the masked shinobi. "Okay…I'll just go—"

She hadn't even finished her step before she felt a hold upon her arm. Looking down, slightly surprised, she saw the bandaged forearm she knew belong to Naruto. Raising her gaze, her eyes locked onto his. A gasp fought its way up her lungs, but had somehow gotten caught somewhere within the region of her throat. The entire duration of her visit the blonde's blue eyes had remained cold as ice and hard as steel. Like the night before, she could find no emotions in their blank slates, as if they were merely shells of what they'd once been. Now, she saw they were ablaze. The cerulean orbs were pure liquid flames that seared the edges of her soul. Before them, she felt both submissive and inspired, as if she'd do anything they wanted her to do because she too yearned for such passion.

"Don't come again Hinata." In response, the girl's eyes widened. What? The words entered her ears sluggishly, but eventually she realized what they meant. She was no longer welcome. "I'm not worth getting in trouble over. I know you're risking a lot more than you let on by seeing me, and I won't have it."

Hinata shook her head wildly, unable to accept such circumstances, but the words still processing too slowly for her to provide a syllable response. He laughed at her astounded appearance.

"Jeez, I know I'm irresistible, but you don't need to be sad." She stared at the boy as if this was an impossibility, and in response he sighed, dropping his grasp. "Well, if your dad can't stop you from sneaking out, then I sure can't if I'm locked up myself." He smiled one of his rare true smiles. "I guess I'll see you around…hopefully not at teme's."

Though Naruto had released her arm, freeing her to leave as she wished, Hinata felt as if she still could not. What had just happened? Had he not said that he wished that she not see him, but gave her permission to do as she desired? It was beginning to seem as if everything the blonde said was meant to confuse her. As if the enigma that was Naruto spoke in riddles with such ease that they in fact had become his native tongue. She wished she could stay and ask the million questions that were crammed inside her mind, especially now when the words seemed to flow from her lips before she could hinder them. Something about this chasm of veracity, this hospital cell with its canvas white walls and bare interior had allowed her to say her thoughts, and now she'd exhausted the little time she had to do so.

Therefore, the Hyuuga heiress merely smiled, and walked as quickly as she could out of the room and back into the reality she was accustomed.

^:-:^ (I'm making weird smilies here!) (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ^:-:^ (:-()- ;_;

Naruto was torn watching Hinata go. Certainly her visit hadn't quite been what he'd expected, but it was much more welcome than his earlier visits. What's more, the ANBU hadn't left with her, and now that her presence was gone, _his_ was overwhelming the teen. It was excruciatingly obvious what the shinobi was waiting for, but it was something the blonde wouldn't allow if he had any say in it.

Now that the Hyuuga had gone, he'd automatically reverted back to his energetic persona, and his actions reflected this change. In hope of annoying who he assumed was to be his temporary guardian, he did everything childish he could think of. The blonde hid behind his hands, he tied himself to the bed frame with his nightgown, and he even locked himself in the bathroom for an astounding fifteen minutes. Eventually he did reemerge, and when he did the guard was still there.

"Are you ready Uzumaki-san?" Naruto groaned, before plopping down onto his bed.

"Can't you give a guy a break? Come on, just turn around for ten seconds, that's all I need."

"I've been given strict orders to not take my eyes off you and to insure you arrive at the Uchiha compound safely."

In reply, the teen just groaned again and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. Maybe because it was the lack of sleep or the fact that the white walls made his head pulse, but he had yet to find an escape. He was infamous for his ability to get out of everything, known for never giving up, and yet he was literally ready to raise the white pillow in surrender. Tsunade had gone above and beyond to keep this fox captured, and Naruto had to admit, though it frustrated him to do so, she had done just that.

"Fine," the teen finally sighed, dropping his hands and opening his ocean eyes. "Fine, fine, but I'm not putting any of you in my will."

The ANBU nodded, taking several pieces of clothing from some unknown storage place behind his back and laid them on the bed. The blonde grabbed them suspiciously, recognizing them as his old clothing, and watched as the ANBU walked out of the room. Despite that it sounded more paranoid than true, the teen was sure the ANBU had done so smugly.

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Naruto noticed immediately after exiting that they were not headed in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Though this caused his curiosity to run wild, he acted as if he was oblivious. Instead he thought of how odd he and the ANBU must look, and vaguely wondered if they'd have a repeat of what had occurred to the blonde when he had been brought to the hospital. There was no need to think so, though. It seemed that the ANBU had taken the assault into consideration when planning their current route. This route included taking side roads, alleys, and a staggering number of loops to recover their steps.

Soon, Naruto became annoyed. Not only was he left in the dark about their final destination, but wherever they were headed, they should have been there ten minutes ago. As if to invalidate that thought, the abnormal pair turned a corner into familiar territory.

"What are we doing here?" The teen asked as they neared his apartment complex.

"Tsunade-sama assumed you'd like to collect some of your belongings." Naruto attempting to raise an eyebrow in disbelief, but was unable to raise only one.³ "All will be searched."

The blonde seemed to accept this explanation, but was hardly ecstatic. There was nothing he really cared to bring in his house. He became certain of this fact when he neared his home. The ANBU had walked slightly behind the fox like boy since arriving; giving him a small amount of privacy to chose what he wanted to keep before searching through his choices. But when his ward reached the top of the stairs, the boy stopped dead in his tracks. Alarmed, the higher ranked shinobi took the last ten steps five at a time, reaching the blonde in two jumps. Before he could ask what had happened, he saw a door hanging open halfway down the hall. Looking back at the emotionless teen, it was easy to piece the puzzle together. The two stood here for a moment or two, the blonde continuing to stare at the open apartment door impassively, and the ANBU staring at the other male, contemplating what he could say to comfort him. The latter didn't get a chance to, because after these moments passed Naruto continued his walk towards his apartment.

Sure enough, the open door belonged to his apartment. Now that he was closer he could see the door hung from one hinge and that the doorknob had been completely torn out. The only reason the poorly standing door remained open was because someone had pushed his bed stand to prop it so. Taking a deep breath, the Kyuubi container stepped into what was left of his home.

It was as if the teen had walked into a battle field. The walls were what first caught his eye. Familiar words of hate were splattered in what he hoped was red paint on every available white space, and on the far wall in the largest print they'd written "GOOD RIDANCE." The lamp which had been on the previously mentioned bed stand now sat in several large pieces on the ground. Beside it, the bed looked as if someone had gutted it with a fairly large knife. It seemed that he'd left some dirty dishes during his rushed escape because he could see a large spot of grim on the wall directly above the shattered remains of what he believed to be the few bowls he owned. He didn't bother looking in his closet; his few spare outfits were in shreds across the room. What's more, he assumed his weapons had been stolen and instead moved forward to his hiding place under the floorboards to see if that too had been raided.

Naruto sighed loudly when he saw that they had. He'd stored some of his more important scrolls, weapons, and gama-chan here. Most of that was gone now; only a couple things that were stored because of the sentimental worth rather than their cash value were left, though in less than perfect condition. Though the hiding place had been compromised, the teen replaced the floorboards and stood to search through the carnage.

He didn't bother cleaning up anything, it wasn't as if he was going to stay very long, but he did take the time to kick some of the larger pieces of the wreckage into little piles with his feet. As he did, he noticed team seven's picture had also fallen to the ground. Carefully the boy picked up the broken picture frame, letting the broken glass pieces to fall away from him and to shatter on the ground rather than try to keep them together. The photo was crumpled and looked as if it'd been stepped on, but it wasn't torn. Naruto stared at the picture wondering why he'd kept it for so long. It was painful even now for him to look at it and remember how simpler things used to be. Nothing was ever simple, but it was much better than now.

The teen turned to see the ANBU watching him from the doorframe. The blonde smiled sadly.

"You'd think you'd get used to this kind of stuff after the first half a dozen times, right?" Naruto said wistfully, half to the ANBU, half to himself, before turning his attention back to the broken frame he held. "But it feels _exactly _the same now as the first time."

With that he dropped the frame, put his hands folded behind his head, and walked out of the remains past a still shocked ANBU.

"C'mon. There wasn't much for me to bring anyway."

¹ Quote derived from _A Separate Peace_ by John Knowles. Yeah, part of the reason it took so long for me to update: I had to read this book for school which starts in, oh, 2 WEEKS ^^' PROCASTINATOR!!! (It wasn't bad though, just I took 10 pages of notes on it O.o)

² Quote from _Mondays are Red_ by Nicola Morgan. FAWESOME BOOK! If you notice me writing any crazy stuff like "a large drink grimy mud brown sewer water instead of lemonade" like I did in the last chap, that's because of this book. It MESSES with your MIND…seriously, go read it ^^

³ Have you ever done that?! I am physically incapable of raising only one eyebrow, but I still try to anyway and I end up looking extremely incompetent.

**WHOOP! Finally done ^^**

**Sorry, I know I said it'd only be a couple days late, but it ended up being like a WEEK late. This was supposed to be up YESTERDAY but FanFiction was giving me error messages the times I tried T-T Also, I forgot how LONG it takes to write Hinata's POV!!! **

**It was so **_**strange**_** though! O.o See when I write, it's like I'm watching a series of still pictures in my mind with a voice telling me exactly what's happening, sometimes including thoughts, sometimes including well-worded descriptions (NO, I'm not schizophrenic…I **_**think**_**) but for some reason it was all quiet O.o Yeah, that's basically my writer's block. But what was weird was all of a sudden the voice would come and I'd get these breakthroughs and write something really good! (Or so my friends said…) Then it'd be quiet again…**

**And as for Naruto's house being broken in, I just randomly thought of it while I typed XD (Which is weird, cuz I reread part of the first chap and it makes it seem like I was foreshadowing for it! O.o)**

**I'm HOPING I can get another chap out before school starts, **_**however**_**, I still have to read **_**The Elements of Style**_** (which, by the way has already made me want to rewrite at least 2/3 of the chap ALONE and I'm not even done with the book -_-') for English class, sched pickup is Tuesday, I'm goin to a HP movie party next sat (just another excuse to have a sleepover XD), AND my friend plans to start her next History Hunters YouTube video. (I was in the last one, it was so fun! Stupid, but fun! Plus, we earned a lot of funny looks : D)**

**Oh! Randomly, I have 2 Q's for everyone (…that don't have to do with the story, but…):**

**1. Does anybody know a good read? I'm sure I'll finish TES soon, so I'll be bored after that. I just finished reading Rave Master (manga, also called RAVE) so I need some books…or manga…or maybe even a fanfic though I have little internet connection (I'm on DAIL-UP right now!)**

**2. Okay, while I was in Japan, I saw this REALLY random anime and I don't know the title of it! It's a shojo (that I'm almost certain *rolls eyes*) and the main characters where either junior high or high school students, but here's the thing: They had these like **_**spirit animals**_**?! I dunno what they were, basically there were rabbits and dogs (depending on which reflected you) that flew on witches' brooms and the villain was a cat who cast curses on people and stuff. I really wanted to show my friends it (it was so funny and confusing at the same time!) but I don't know what it's called T-T**

**!!!!!WEIVER !!!!ESAELP **

**(Don't bother getting a mirror, press the green button and it'll all become clear to you later……; P)**


	8. Hate

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, because SERIOUSLY?! OMG, I CANNOT STAND HOW SHORT THE CHAPTERS ARE! I'm going MAD T-T**

**ALL THE ANIME YOU COULD EVER WANT TO: **Kingkakashi, makura moderski, durkheim, Midnight-Shadow-Wolfling, Xiashadow, Blood Zephyr, alexa-catta123, anon, Afira, Spiritwalker36, Stargazer, Aachen, Immortal Fallen Angel, Artic-Fox 14, mikuloveitachi, InARealPickle, Sexy Kurenai, Kakashi Rocks The World, sher162252, phire and magyk, LovelySinner7, General16, and MichaelaTheUchiha **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND FREE MANGA TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO InARealPickle for telling me to the correct way to do plurals ^^ I'd give you a hug……but that would be awkward……especially over the internet.**

Chapter 8: Hate

_~*~_

_Take care of you _

_And I'll take care of me_

_We're just lonely hearts_

_Looking for better days_

~Take Care by A Change Of Pace

~*~

It was late in the afternoon on a partly cloudy day and Sasuke Uchiha was inside lying on his bed. He wasn't out training or doing anything else remotely productive; he was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. The Uchiha was staring at the center, to be specific; though he had no way of actually knowing if it was the exact center without getting up to measure it, and that went against the point of lying and doing nothing. Perhaps he'd been lying here too long; perhaps the teen was finally losing it.

He turned to look at the clock beside his bed before returning to stare at the dreary ceiling. In three minutes, he was going to have sat here for an hour. In three minutes he was going to have spent full _hour_ of staring at that one spot on the vast blank ceiling. What's more, he didn't know _why_ he was doing this. Uchiha didn't waste time, which meant Sasuke didn't waste time. But he was. Even more shocking was that he didn't care. The teen was fairly content with lying here for however long it took. Though he wouldn't admit, especially to himself, there was no way he'd be able to do anything else until Naruto got here.

Itachi had been silent since Sasuke's arrival, much to the adolescent's surprise. The younger sibling had figured now that he had seen the blonde, though in reality he hadn't, his brother would confirm that his teammate was going to be their new tenant. But he hadn't.

What Itachi had done was nod when Sasuke walked in, and the carried on with his business. The other man hadn't even stopped to do so; he just continued on his way to a spare bedroom at the end of the hall. To be fair, Sasuke had been equally quiet, and had not even returned the nod. But what was he suppose to do? _Ask_? Uchiha didn't do that either. Besides, that would mean he'd been admitting he wasn't sure what was going on, and he'd rather go mad wondering than swallow his pride anymore than he already had.

Two minutes to an hour. With a scowl the raven haired shinobi threw a kunai at the spot he'd been staring at. The metal made a "clunk" sound as it imbedded itself into the plaster. Sasuke hadn't thrown it very hard, however, and the weapon shook slightly, threatening to fall on the teen. The boy didn't even flinch.

Perhaps it had been foolish to think Naruto would have showed up immediately. Sasuke had half expected the blonde to arrive just moments after he had. The teen had even gone to his room to pretend that he had been there all along, seeing as he didn't want his teammate knowing he'd gone to visit him but then backed out. The Uchiha didn't know how the other boy would react to that. Would he be angry with him? Glad that he didn't bother him?

The sharingan wielder shook his head. What did it matter? What was done was done; he ran away like a scared rabbit and he could only hope that no one but the ANBU that had been there would know of his cowardice. Despite himself, he turned to look at the clock again. One minute to an hour. Sasuke growled at the clock. It was mocking him! The whole world was just toying with him! Before he could hit the clock while in this crazed way of thinking, he heard a knock.

Instinctively, he jumped from the bed to answer his door, but he realized no one had knocked on _his_ door. From the hall the teen heard voices, followed by footsteps. Moving closer to the exit he could distinctly make out his brothers and another, slightly vague, but familiar voice. However, it wasn't until he was at his door that he could make out what they were saying.

"Tsunade-sama asked that I express her thanks for watching Uzumaki-sama."

"It is not a problem. My otouto was very…perturbed by his teammate's condition."

"I could see that from his visit earlier, though it was a shame he didn't get to see him."

Sasuke swore quietly. Now it was all too clear where he'd heard the other man's voice before. He was the ANBU who'd muttered under his breath at the hospital. And there went the teen's plan to never admit he hadn't seen Naruto. Unsurprisingly, Itachi didn't miss a beat.

"Yes, that is a shame."

"I'd best be going."

"Of course." Without another word, Sasuke heard the front door open than close again signaling the ANBU's exit. Still standing at his door, the teen waited.

Now that Itachi knew, he had to avoid him at all costs. Eventually, he'd need to confront his brother, but that didn't mean he had to do it now. The later Sasuke had to, the better. Besides, Naruto was top priority, and this time he wouldn't back out. But this meant he had to make it to the blonde's room without running into the ex-nukenin.

Luckily, the older Uchiha was predictable. Sure enough, as Sasuke neared the kitchen he could hear the sound of his aniki moving about. Just before the entrance, the teen paused briefly; hesitating for only a second or so, mostly out of habit, partly out of fear of being caught. But it seemed a moment was all it took to get caught.

"Not procrastinating are you?" Sasuke grit his teeth in annoyance, and, since he'd been spotted anyway, walked into the doorway to openly glare at his brother.

"No."

"Good." With that dismissal, Itachi turned from the young man. Though this signaled that the conversation was over, Sasuke didn't make any move to leave.

"That's it? No scolding? No 'I'm disappointed in you'?"

"You're old enough to make your own decisions." Sasuke stopped glaring and just stared at his brother at that response.

Perhaps it was only because Itachi had been so caring and questioning lately, but this was defiantly not the expected reaction. After all, his brother had made him a bento box yesterday morning, yet here he was today, practically stating "you're a big boy now". Was his brother bipolar? The teen shook his head before he continued to walk towards the spare room. There was no point trying to decipher his brother. He'd been attempting to do so since their return to Konoha, and so far he'd only realized that Itachi was even more confusing than he thought.

Finally, Sasuke reached his destination. Before he could let himself hesitate again, he reached for the handle and opened the door.

"When did you guys get a cat?" Sasuke stopped, half inside the room, half out, and blinked in response.

Despite only arriving moments ago, the blonde seemed to be right at home. The room itself looked nicer than Sasuke had remembered it had been before. It'd recently been dusted, cleaned, and the bed was made with new sheets. Naruto had thrown his jacket on the floor, but otherwise there was not a single spot throughout. Said teen now lay on his back on his bed, holding a small orange kitten high above his head. At the sight of the orange cat, the raven couldn't help but feel a bit relieved. The Uchiha hadn't seen the young cat since that morning when it ran outside, and felt a little less guilty now that it was back safely. Then Sasuke smirked when he saw how the hyper shinobi was holding it; reminded of how the animal had scratched him when he did so, and began to count down the seconds until Naruto met a similar fate. But the smirk turned into a glower when he realized the cat was purring and licking the other boy's fingers.

"Oi? Teme?" Hearing his accustomed nickname, the teen exited his thoughts.

"Yesterday."

"Really? I think it likes me! Ow. But its tongue is like sandpaper!¹ What's its name?"

"Nato." The blonde scrunched his face unpleasantly.

"Why'd you name him _that_? I hate that fermented soybean stuff!²"

"I don't." Sasuke lied. In truth, he didn't really care for it either. But he'd never admit he named the kitten that because the pet reminded him of Naruto.

"Since when!"

"Hn."

Naruto rolled his eyes while lowering the orange bundle of fur onto the bed. The kitten meowed, then proceeded to climb over the boy, jump off the bed, and began to play with the blonde's orange jacket. The jacket's owner laughed, and it was Sasuke's turn to roll his eyes.

"I almost stepped on the little guy! He got all wrapped up in my jacket and I didn't notice til I heard a meow."

"He keeps getting caught in clothing." As if on cue, a sharp "meow!" came from under the nearby orange jacket, the kitten's signal for help. Naruto began to laugh again and even Sasuke smiled a bit at the dense little kitten.

"Aw! Look at that smile! Teme has a soft spot for the little guy!" The onyx eyed boy glared.

"It hates me." For a third time Naruto laughed as he sifted his body and reached to free the trapped kitten.

"No duh it hates you! Who'd like living with a stiff teme like you?"

"You are." The blonde turned to leer³ at the Uchiha as he lifted the jacket off the cat.

"Not by _choice_."

Sasuke stiffened at the sudden hostility. After being greeted as if nothing was wrong, the raven haired boy had relaxed and even momentarily forgotten that things weren't normal between the two friends. They'd been having such a carefree conversation; Sasuke was caught off guard by the blonde's anger.

The room fell quiet after that. Naruto's eyes became fixed on the cat, while Sasuke's bore into Naruto. Finally, it was the cat that broke the silence. It'd once again gotten tangled inside the jacket and begun meowing, though this time more urgently. The blonde shinobi reached to free it again, though this time without as much humor.

"You're angry." The raven stated bluntly, unable to find any other words to say.

"Really? I thought I was pretty darn ecstatic to be stuck in a house with a no-good snitch."

"It was either that or break down your door."

"Yes, because those were your _only_ two options. But, as I recall, you could have just _minded your own business_!"

"I'm _not_ about to let you hurt yourself dobe!" Sasuke retorted with a sharp hiss, before calming to an emotionless expression.

"Why? Wanna do that yourself? Cuz if you are, you're doing a pretty good job of it so far!"

"I didn't tell Tsunade because I was trying to hurt you."

"I'm not talking about that!" Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Naruto saw his teammate gaping at him and growled.

"Stop being an f-ing hypocrite teme. You threw yourself down the self-destructive path of revenge, and I chose to cut myself. Everyone knew it wouldn't make you feel any better, but we were willing to help you anyway. Why can't all of you just let me be!" Sasuke sighed.

"Because I don't want you making the same mistakes I did. None of us want to see you hurt yourself. You wouldn't stop annoying me when I left Konoha, and I won't stop trying to get you to stop now."

The two became silent; their onyx and cerulean eyes both locked on one another's. Eventually, it was Naruto who averted his eyes.

"Oh shut up with that mushy gushy junk. People should be allowed to make their own decisions and their own mistakes. Everyone has their own vices. Tsunade drinks, Shikamaru has taken up smoking, and I'm cutting. Of course it hurts us, but I'm the only getting punished because of it! What makes me so different?"

Finally, Sasuke snapped. In a blink of an eye, the raven haired teen had crossed the room and grabbed the blonde by the collar of his shirt.

"The difference is it only takes one cut to die! What are you thinking Naruto! Why are you doing this? What about your dream of being Hokage, what about your friends? What the heck happened to the dobe I know!"

Just as quickly as Sasuke had reacted, Naruto had the Uchiha's hands off of him and the teen pinned against the ground with his feet on each of his shoulders.

"I never was the 'dobe' you 'knew'." Before the raven haired boy could escape the blonde's hold, the fox-like boy released him with a kick that sent the dark haired boy crashing against the far wall. "Get out."

Glaring, Sasuke struggled to his feet, but remained where he was in defiance. For a split second, he saw a flash of pain cross the blonde's face, but it went back to its original emotion just as quickly.

"Now!"

Again, the new jonin was caught off guard, this time by a strong wave of killer intent Naruto released with the word. The intensity made the teen's blood run cold. He hadn't felt this kind of hatred and power since he'd fought a one-tailed Naruto back at the valley of the end. Now, however, he didn't seem to be under Kyuubi's influence at all, which left Sasuke wondering where on earth did this power come from? What made it worse were his teammate's eyes. The cold orbs of ocean blue held nothing but pure hatred. The teen knew this look well, having seen it in many of his enemies' eyes, and was even a bit used to it. But to see it in the blonde's eyes shocked him. He'd knew Naruto would be angry, he knew he'd hate him a little bit, but now he saw that right now he wasn't the dobe's friend, anymore. He really was his enemy.

Despite his earlier resolution to stay no matter what, Sasuke swallowed his pride and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Once outside, the teen felt his shoulder slump in exhaustion. Talking to his friend had been extremely tiring and far more disappointing than he could have possibly imagined. The things his teammate said…Naruto didn't talk that way. He'd thought the blonde would be mad that the Uchiha had told Tsunade about him, but now he could see the genin's anger had deeper roots. The two of them had always had a "rivalry" type relationship, but they'd always fought just for the sake of fighting, or so he thought. Now, the dark haired brunette was beginning to question if that was all just an act. Maybe the true act had been the blonde saying he'd thought of him as a friend. But that was even more ridiculous, Naruto couldn't lie _that_ well.

Still deep in thought, the raven heard scratching. Turning he saw that Nato had followed him out and was now scratching Naruto's door. Maybe it would have been better if they'd just kept talking about superficial stuff like the cat. Sighing, the boy bent down to pick up the cat only to have it hiss at him before darting down the hall.

Yup, the cat hated him.

;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( Emo Sasuke! ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( ;_; T-T ;-; :'( : P

The blonde waited a full minute after he heard footsteps retreating down the hall before he let his anger get a hold of him. But as soon as he was sure the Uchiha was out of hearing distance, he began to swear violently and dug his fingers into his arms. With the small part of his mind that was not blinded by anger, Naruto knew he couldn't make a lot of noise, lest he attracts unwanted attention, but he also knew he had to let off some anger somehow. Normally, the genin would cut or train to the point that he caused himself harm, but both of those were no longer an option. They probably would never be again.

He shook his head heatedly at that thought as he racked his brain for some other idea. Running came to mind, as well as any other form of training, but those bright ideas were shot down by the fact he was sure they wouldn't let him outside. The blonde became aware that he was close to breaking his skin with his nails, and stopped while swearing. He _quit_ hurting himself! He needed to blow off steam, _quick_. Instantly the numerous throw pillows on his bed caught his eyes. In a second a small square shaped pillow was flung across the room hitting the far wall with a loud "smack!". The teen winced at the sound, not expecting it from the soft object, but didn't stop. Even though Naruto was now restraining himself, by the time he ran out of throw pillows two of the pillows had ripped causing white stuffing to spill from the cracks. The blonde stared, emotionless, at the larger sleeping pillow in his hand. That same small part of his brain told him he shouldn't throw it; he'd already gotten most of his anger out.

But it wasn't all about the anger. Sasuke had ruined _everything_. He'd taken his promotion, his drug, his _freedom_. Time after time, the Uchiha had denied the olive branch he'd extended to him. They were best friends, supposedly close enough to be _brothers_, but it'd always been one sided, no matter what the other teen said. Even when he returned, it was all about him. The blonde listened to his complaints about his brother, even though it killed him to listen to the whining when all he wished for was some kind of family. Not once had the teme asked how Naruto was doing. All of his "friends" never asked. As much as he didn't want to say it irked him, it did. He gave them so many clues that he was nothing but an act… In one last fit of rage, the spiky headed teen threw the pillow with all his might.

It would have hit the walls like all the others had it been another throw pillow, but the larger shape and mass caused it to twist as it neared the wall, sending it farther to the right so that it smashed into the mirror above the night stand. Perhaps if he'd continued to restrain how hard he threw, it wouldn't have broken, but the momentum behind the bed gear and the fact that it wasn't against the wall caused it to shatter into several large pieces.

Naruto didn't even have time to blink before his "temporary guardian" was at the door. The blonde hadn't seen Itachi since he returned with Sasuke before today. To be frank, he was anxious about being around a man who had hunted him like an animal for several years of his life. Sure he was told to kill his family and hadn't planned on actually handing the Kyuubi container to Akatsuki once caught, but that did little to hide the fact that he _had_ killed the Uchiha clan, with a little help, and that he probably _could_ have captured him if the man had wanted to. Even when Sasuke-teme described his brother cooking dinner in an apron, the teen couldn't get the daunting image of their first meeting when Itachi and Kisame had come on his first trip with Jiraiya out of his mind.

All that being said, seeing the ex-nukenin burst into his room with impassive stare, completely unaffected by shock or surprise, only engrained the need to stay on edge around him in his mind. To make matters worse, Sasuke appeared a second later. Seeing his face, which he was obviously attempting to keep expressionless, filled with worry and surprise only made his older brother seem that more intimidating.

Two pairs of onyx eyes swept the room, both landing on the broken mirror, then the stack of pillows, some torn, nearby, and ending on the blonde. Naruto cringed feeling their hard, though worried, stares. Out of habit, the teen brought his right hand to rub the back of his head and smiled ruefully as he would have if he was wearing his mask. This didn't seem to help though, and when he saw the younger Uchiha's eyes narrow, he gave up the act all together, allowing his smile to fall to a frown. Eventually Itachi spoke.

"Come with me."

Hesitantly, the blonde lifted himself off the bed and walked toward the Uchiha. As he did, the older of the two turned to the younger and whispered something in his ear. The shorter one glared, first at his brother, then at Naruto, before pivoting on his heel and disappearing down the hall. The blue-eyed boy gave Itachi a questioning look.

"I asked that he clean up the glass."

At that Naruto couldn't help but snicker. Sure, he'd gotten himself in trouble with this little stunt, but he also got Sasuke doing grunt work. The thought of the teme cleaning up after him was just oh, so sweet! The other Uchiha must have also seen the humor of his younger brother, who believed himself to be above the average being, acting like your average maid, because he too smirked. The blonde looked at the man, and his grin faltered. The two Uchiha already looked very similar, but their smirk was identical. If one Uchiha was unbearable, how could he survive _living_ with _two_?

The teen shook this from his head as Itachi started walking down the hall. As he followed, he felt a shiver go through his body when he realized how silent the man was. There wasn't a doubt in the teen's mind that the Uchiha could sneak into his room and kill him in his sleep.

Again, Naruto shook his head, this time more violently. Itachi wouldn't kill him in his sleep, or so he'd been told, and if he was to properly lie to this man, he couldn't have these false images of him. If the blonde wanted to get away with lying, he had to learn everything he could about the ex-Akatsuki member. It was much easier to hide things from people you know, just as it's easier to catch a liar if you knew how he lied. Naruto had avoided getting caught this long with this philosophy. He learned all about his friends by carefully listening when they spoke and watching their actions, but, with his mask, had avoided them ever knowing him. The fox container considered himself a master when it came to lying, but this was going to be his biggest challenge.

Because Itachi knew his true self, or enough of it, to use his philosophy against him. The man had been warned about how Naruto hid behind his energetic mask, and that was going to be extremely limiting in the boy's lying. The blonde had succeeded for so long and so easily thanks to his false persona. Though he hated to admit it, Naruto had been slacking as of late because it had been so easy. He used to be extremely diligent about his lies. He knew lies had to be rational and more importantly, believable; each had to be inarguable, so that no one would think them to be anything but the truth. But in allowing small slips of the tongue and of his act, he'd made it so there was room to question his words, which led to investigation and ultimately his downfall. Now, he needed a whole new strategy, and fast.

Naruto had been so deep inside his mind and his planning, that he nearly ran into Itachi when the Uchiha stopped. Thankfully, the blonde's shinobi instincts allowed him to stop in time, mere inches from the dark haired brunette. Still, this was far too close of a call, and the teen swore in his mind that he'd be more careful about the little things, such as this, in the future. The ex-nukenin turned, and as he did he motioned toward the door beside him. Understanding that this meant for him to go in first, the blue-eyed boy swallowed and opened the door.

The room inside could be cozy. Though not very large in size, it had quite a bit inside. One wall contained a small window, which faced a garden area, allowing the golden streaks of the setting sun to shine through the glass panes. Right beneath, a shogi board was set, just waiting to be played. Against another wall was a large bookcase filled with both books and scrolls. To the side of the wooden structure was a pair of large, western style armchairs, separated by a small table with an antique looking book lamp. On the last wall was what looked like a fireplace, which seemed fairly useless considering how Konoha stayed fairly warm year round. In front of it was a small chabudai4, surprisingly within a square made of couches and armchairs.

This part study, part living room should have been cozy, but to Naruto it was anything but. Every object was covered in a thick layer of dust, and spiders hung between the furniture, giving this "living room" a dead feel to it. Even the golden sun streaks were mostly blocked by the grey windows filled with dust. To put it simply, the room sent shiver up the blonde's spine as soon as he opened the door.

"I hadn't the time to clean this room before you arrived, so I'd planned on allowing you to simply rest for the night." Naruto turned to look at the Uchiha, only somewhat surprised he could guess what he was thinking. The teen was, after all, standing in the door way rather than entering the room. "However, I think we ought to speak tonight. We can speak else where if you wish."

The blonde turned back to the chilling room, picturing how magnificent it must have been many years ago when it was still used.

"No, here's fine," he said as he walked into the dreary room.

Itachi nodded, unsurprised, which made Naruto frown. Was he really that predictable? The teen too shook these thoughts from his head. There was no need to act paranoid. The boy turned to look at the Uchiha, expecting him to motion towards where they were going to sit. When the man didn't, Naruto sauntered over to the shogi board before plopping down in front of it. Itachi followed the blonde's lead, though sat without making a sound.

Both stared at each other for a moment, a silent conversation occurring between them. The Uchiha was waiting for Naruto speak; Naruto was not going to. Coming to a silent agreement, Itachi moved a pawn on the board in front them5. The blonde followed suit. They were quiet for the first twenty or so moves, when finally Naruto spoke.

"So, are you supposed to be my 'physiatrist'?"

"I'll act as so, yes." It went quiet again, and a few turns went by.

"Aren't physiatrists supposed to ask their patients stuff?"

"Hn."

"…Then why aren't you?"

"You already know the questions." Again, Naruto didn't reply right away, choosing first to move one of his pieces to spring a trap, successfully capturing the Uchiha's silver general. The blonde may be nowhere near Shikamaru's level, but when he put his strategic skills he used in lying, he did fairly well.

"Why don't you use this room?" He asked, as he watched in shock as Itachi stole the blonde's gold general due to the teen's prior move.

"We don't use many of these rooms. Sasuke-kun and I tend to stick to the necessities."

Naruto snorted in reply, but concentrated on his counter-attack.

"Sorry bout the mirror, by the way. I didn't mean to break it, my aim was a bit off." The blonde reluctantly apologized after making his move.

"Perhaps throwing pillows aren't the best way to get out your anger." Itachi smirked as he acquired another of his opponent's pieces.

"What, would you rather I cut?" The teen snapped in reply, more angry at the fact he was losing than at the cheeky reply. It fell quiet again.

"Of course not. I assume my brother is to blame for your anger?"

"Sasuke's a teme." Was Naruto's reply.

"So do you usually have fits of rage after seeing him?"

"Sometimes, I dunno. I tend to train a lot after seeing…Wait! When did you start asking questions!"

"I thought you wanted me to."

"I only started talking because you weren't. You tricked me!"

"Hn." Itachi answered, though he was looking more at the board than at the blonde. Naruto followed his view, realizing that it was his turn…and he had no where to move. The teen swore.

"Problem?" Naruto just glared in return.

Not bothering to admit his obvious defeat he stood to leave. Now that the game was over, he hardly wanted to sit and chat any longer. He was perhaps a question or two away from revealing too much, maybe even _much_ too much. The Kyuubi container had allowed himself to become distracted; too involved in the game rather than the conversation.

"Game's over. Talk's over." Itachi nodded.

"Until next time."

The blonde glowered, but turned and walked away with a nod. Next time, _he'd_ control the situation.

¹ Learned this the hard way! I almost yelled when Animal Cracker's cat licked me and I found out it had a tough tongue! Ps. It was like 1 am XD

² Actually, after visiting Japan I learned it's spelled Natto for the bean, which kinda makes me feel stupid but wateve. : D I'll keep it spelled that way, and if they ever refer to the bean, it's because they're pronounced the same : P Funny story: My aunt ate some of this stuff cuz she saw other people eating it an got sick XD I don't understand her: she'll eat stuff that resembles goo but not sushi!

³ I will NEVER look at this word the same way again! I looked up the word with Word, and it came up with "to look or smile in a way that suggests unpleasantly lustful or malicious intent" LUSTFUL!? O.o XD I only knew malicious : P

4 That's a short Japanese table to be blunt ^^'

5 I don't actually know how to play Shogi. I wiki-ed it, and I barely have the gist. I know how to play chess though! ^^'''''

**Wow that's a lot of Superscripts! XD**

**This chap on the shorter side, dunno WHY *groan* I've been writing 1000 words a night for the past 5 nights! It's the last chap before school O.o …That makes me sad… :'( Cuz we all know wat school means: longer breaks before chaps T-T Stuped skool, I no need me learntin!**

**Anyway, so I ATTEMPTED to follow **_**The Elements of Style**_** … And failed miserably T-T Much harder than I thought! I think like EVERY rule went AGAINST my style of writing XD It'll take practice I guess ^^**

**GOOD NEWS:**

**I gots me a BETA!!!!! ^^ It's my very own, peaceandserenity94! : ) Even though she's never read Naruto, she's agreed to beta cuz she's obsessed with editing XD Lol, lately she's been helping me with this story anyway, with any words I forget (mind blanks) and if sentences sound fawesome or corny. So, I'm really glad she agreed (actually, she volunteered XD). She'll have to start from chap 1 and I dunno how long it'll take to get through all 8. I'll put at the top if it's edited or not ^^. GRAZI AYUMI!!!! (wink wink, nudge nudge)**

**Okay, so here's my story q:**

**By now, you have to notice I'm a HUGE fan of symbolism! (Mostly because my life is full of irony and symbolism…..but I suck at writing irony *rolls eyes*)**

**But does everyone notice them? I'm not talking bout the obvious ones (like why it's raining in chap 4) but the little things, like the one in the dream sequence in chap 6.**

**Sorry, sometimes I feel like I'm doin extra work that just ends up going over everyone's heads anyway -_-'**

**So, prove me wrong! Name some symbolism, especially if you can get the minor one in the dream. It takes a lot of thinking, and insight ^^**

**By the way:**

**RRRRRRREEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!! IIIIIIIII SSSSSSSSPPPPPPEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKK WWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE XD**

**Lol, ignore me and press the green button ^^**


	9. Truth

**Disclaimer- Naruto is not one of the belongings of mine…did that make sense? O.o**

**PENUT BUTTER JELLY TIME TO: **Midnight-Shadow-Wolfling, makura moderski, electrika, Blood Zephyr, vivi-vixen, alexa-catta123, Immortal Fallen Angel, Aachen, Durkheim, Psycho Dreamer, Rachel McN, mikuloveitachi, RogueNya, left-alone, extreme kiwi, Nejidragon, Kakashi Rocks The World, FaerysWing, Kingkakashi, RockPopnMetal007, and zuckerschock **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND A BANANA TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO **

**Electrika****- I think I already thank you for the spelling lesson, but just in case: THANKS!!**

**And**

**Nejidragon****- Everything you said is so true XD Only prob is, the link you sent me didn't work -_-'**

**CHAPTER DEDICATION TO: **

**Rachel McN****! Cuz I think you're the only person who gave me some symbolism *grin*!**

"Okay, so you like symbolism, but do you use 'good and bad luck' symbols? If so, naruto has 7 years bad luck to work of now 'cause of that mirror! On top of everything else,poor kid.. ;) I suppose, the Shogi game could be considered symbolism too. Itachi and Naruto both strategizing how to lie and how to bring the other out. And Itachi won both the game and the uh..discussion. In a way. :P  
Even if you don't mean to, I think symbolism can have a way of sneaking into writing ;) Maybe when sasuke throws the kunai at the ceiling and it threatens to fall on him, but he doesn't move? It could be viewed as a sign that he likes to face danger head-on."

**I dunno if I believe in good luck/bad luck, but I tend to throw in a lot of Karma. You got the shoji game right on the nail! Pretty close with the kunai too: I was kinda symbolizing that it was kind of his sanity, just barely hanging on XD**

**I know you guys prob didn't answer because it was too much thinking, sorry! I'm the daughter of an English professor, I do these kinda of "reading between the lines" things without thinking. XD**

**Since I luv ya, I'll tell ya the symbolism in Naruto's dream in Chap 6:**

"**On his left, slightly behind him, was Sasuke with an ever present smirk, and on his right, slightly in front of him, was Hinata without her infamous blush."**

**Sasuke's sitting slightly behind him because he's a shadow, haunting Naruto. (That'll become clearer later)**

**Hinata's in front cuz he thinks she's better than him, perhaps too good for him (that's for all the NaruHina fans, and proof that he's guilty)**

**JUST TO WARN YA! There's more symbolism in this chap, but don't worry bout it too much : )**

Chapter 9: Truth

_~*~_

_Back beat the word is on the street _

_That the fire in your heart is out_

_I'm sure you've heard it all before_

_But you never really had a doubt_

~Wonderwall by Oasis

~*~

The blonde didn't come to dinner that night. Besides a small flash of yellow prior to the loud slamming of his teammate's door, Sasuke didn't see the dobe at all.

Dinner was quiet, as it always was when it was only the two Uchiha brothers eating. They two didn't talk while they ate, and if they did it was always a one sided conversation on Itachi's part. Sasuke usually preferred this silence. He didn't care for useless small talk or interrogations about one's day. If you had nothing worth saying, there was no point in saying anything at all. But today, there should have been things worth saying. After all, his older brother had gotten to speak with Naruto after breaking the mirror.

Though he knew he was the cause of the blonde's anger, Sasuke wanted to know _why_. He'd never known the blonde harbored such hate towards him. Lately, it _had_ seemed like the teen was doing everything wrong. Yelling at him, going to Tsunade; those were a given. Anybody would be angry because of that, but _hate_?

The Uchiha couldn't get their fight at the barbeque restaurant the night before out of his head. The ice in his teammate's blue eyes as Sasuke unwrapped his present. The boy's cool, superior attitude as Sasuke yelled at him. Then, perhaps the worse of them all, the slump of his friend's shoulders as he agreed with the Uchiha's cruel words.

"_No one would ever want an idiot like you for a Hokage, in fact, they'd rather let the village burn than you rule it!"_

The teen had always been so determined to be Hokage. The blonde didn't, couldn't, truly believe what Sasuke had said…could he?

As always, it seemed everything Itachi did, or in this case, did not do was meant to infuriate his little brother. The older male hadn't said a word all of dinner, let alone anything about Naruto. Finally, the silent and tense dinner ended, and as Sasuke began to pick up the plates, he gave up waiting.

"What did you say to Naruto?" Sasuke turned to his brother nearing dropping the plates as he did so, caught off guard by the sudden question.

The teen turned away once more, unable to hide guilt in his eyes. Itachi couldn't have known what he'd been thinking about just moments earlier, it was impossible. Still, the eyes that bore into his back spoke otherwise. Sometimes he still hated his brother, though for different reasons.

"I yelled at him."

"About what?"

"I don't know." Liar. "I asked him what about his friends, his dreams."

"What was his reaction?"

"_I never was the 'dobe' you 'knew'."_

Besides himself, Sasuke shook at the thought. Whether it was in anger or fear, he didn't know. Despite not saying anything, it seemed his brother had gotten the information he wanted, and left the room, leaving the younger male in the dark as always.

=_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! =_= +.+ !_! *-* =_= +.+ !_! *-* =_= +.+ !_! *-* =_= +.+ !_! *-* XD

Nightmares had been a stable in Sasuke's life for the longest time. Traumatic memories trapped him when he slipped into his subconscious; no longer able to fight them off as he did during the day. His dreams had mostly consisted of walls dripping with fresh blood, slashed corpses, and screams; horrific screams that always seemed to fall from his own traitorous mouth. Time seems to heal all, however, and soon the blood dried, leaving the walls an auburn color, the corpses were dragged to the incinerator, and the screams were but echoes, ghosts that hung amongst the thick air. It was all just a vague reminder of why he needed to kill his brother.

Since Itachi's return, however, there was no need for these reminders. And because of this want, dreams were not needed at all. Lately, Sasuke had grown accustomed to this dreamless sleep. He would choose falling completely unconscious in a sea of darkness over nightmares any day. What sane person wouldn't? Tonight it seemed he had neither, as memories indeed resurfaced, but not the familiar, horrific ones.

He was 12 again, and he was with the original Team 7, minus Kakashi. It was their first survival exercise, the bell test, and they had just failed. Naruto, being the dobe that he was, and still _is_, was tied to the center log yelling something or another about how he didn't need food. His stomach spoke otherwise, and growled loudly in protest. Despite what their new sensei had told them, Sasuke held his bento box in offer to the blonde.

The restrained teen's suspicious eyes looked strange on his relieved face. But the raven didn't care; he wasn't expecting any thanks. What he was doing wasn't an act of kindness anyway; he was doing it for himself. There was no way an Uchiha was going to fail, certainly not him.

Sakura seemed to follow Sasuke's lead, though also with a selfish desire; to impress him. It was shocking that these selfish acts were followed by the announcement that they had passed. "Those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't help their friends are lower than trash." Truthfully, they were only helping themselves, as they always did and would continue to do for many years to come, but they weren't about to correct him.

To celebrate, their new sensei invited them to eat. As they walked away, the screams of a still tied blonde pierced the air. Right, they'd forgotten him. From the corner of his eyes, Sasuke watched his new teammates, waiting for one to turn around and free the dobe. But when they'd all but exited the training ground, and none had made a move to return, the Uchiha sighed. Already the baka was making more work for him and they had only been a team for a few minutes. Speak of setting the tone for the rest of their lives. As the teen turned, however, he noticed that a cloud had fallen over the sun.

Sasuke turned to see that Sakura and Kakashi had already disappeared, and the teen shook his head. So much for "those who don't help their friends are lower than trash." The raven haired boy continued toward his last teammate, though he noticed the screams had stopped. Perhaps the dobe had managed to free himself, wouldn't that be just like the blonde to make others go out of their way for nothing. When the blonde came into view, however, the Uchiha saw that he was appallingly wrong.

The blonde was still restrained to the log, but it wasn't a 12 year old tied with ropes any longer. Instead, it was a 16 year old Naruto, gagged and chained to the wooden block. Sasuke's mouth fell open in shock, just as the other teen's bleary blue eyes open slightly. When his teammate saw him, he screamed, but his words were muffled by the gag. As if realizing that that did nothing, the blonde thrashed against his restraints. Instantly Sasuke moved to help his friend, but the fox container howled in pain. As he had moved closer, the chains circling the teen had tightened; the metal digging into the blonde's skin even drawing blood.

Horrified, the raven began to step back. The chains loosened, but the gag was pulled tighter, suffocating the trapped teen. Sasuke stopped moving all together, and the gag loosened as well. Once it had, the blonde's cerulean eyes snapped to his, begging him to free him.

Sasuke felt as if he'd been stabbed. How was he supposed to help him if he could neither move towards him nor get help? Naruto must have realized that his teammate wasn't going to do anything, because his eyes turned to stone. Again, the blonde started yelling and thrashing at the ties, only hurting himself in the process.

"Stop!" The Uchiha yelled. "Dobe, stop it! That won't help you. You're only hurting yourself! Stop!"

The pleas fell on deaf ears, and the other teen only lashed out that much harder.

"Stop!"

O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ O.o OO % | # [ :'(

Sasuke must have yelled that last part aloud, for when he sprang into a sitting position the half-naked blonde froze mid-action. Still haunted and disoriented from his dreams, the raven just stared at the surprise, shirtless visitor, who in turn stared, surprised by the sudden yelling. Slowly, but surely, reality began to return to the Uchiha; and as it did, he was became even more confused by the situation.

"What are you doing in my room?" The blonde also seemed to be shaken from his surprise, and returned to his previous action of ruffling through his teammate's drawers.

"Looking for a shirt. Jeez, why does everything you have either have a stupid Uchiha symbol or show more skin than stripper? I mean, look at this," he said, lifting Sasuke's old clothing from his time with Orochimaru that he'd never gotten around to getting rid of. "Why would you KEEP _this_? Rephrase that, why would you EVER wear _this _in the first place!"

"That's what I was given to wear." Naruto stopped tossing the clothes to the floor to turn and gape.

"And you _stayed_?! The fifty somein' year old snake is dressing you, a teenage boy, in plunging necklines and you _stay_? Do you have _any_ common sense!" Sasuke growled.

"Baka."

"How am I the baka!"

"Why do you need one of my shirts anyway?" As if taking this as an okay, the blonde continued to rummage through the rest of his teammate's clothing.

"Obviously mine's dirty."

"What, do you only have one shirt?"

"Yeah." Sasuke blinked.

"How can you only have one shirt?"

"Because I only have one shirt. What don't you understand about that?" He knew the blonde wasn't rich, but he couldn't be _that_ poor.

"Baka. You need more than one shirt." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, really? I didn't know that. Thanks for giving me that little bit of wisdom." The blonde swore. "There's really are no shirts! Fine, I'll wear one with the stupid fan."

With shirt in hand, the blonde strode from the room. With a sigh, Sasuke rubbed his face with his hand. He was incredibly lucky his teammate hadn't questioned his yelling. Even now that he was fully awake, the teen couldn't get the nightmare out of his thoughts. The sight of the tied and thrashing blonde was just another image that would be forever burned at the back of his mind. Slowly he got out of his bed, dragging himself to the bathroom.

Unsurprisingly, the teen could see bags begin to form under his eyes. Paper thin lines of red streaked the white of his eyes, but what really gave the boy away was the way his arms shook as he held himself up. Sasuke growled. It was only a dream; he was overreacting. Without glancing at his reflection again, the raven finished getting ready, and went to grab something to eat.

^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) ^^ ; P % ) d^-^b

On his way to the kitchen, he heard a knock at the door. With a sigh, the teen changed his direction and opened the front door.

"Sasuke! So you are here." Sakura gushed, sounding relieved. Of course, it just had to be her. "I was kind of worried when you and Naruto weren't at our group meeting. Especially when Kakashi-sensei had said we probably wouldn't have any more meetings or missions for a while, or if we did Naruto wouldn't be there. And so I wanted to make sure he was okay, so I went to his apartment, but it was all boarded up. So then I got _really_ worried, and since you weren't at the meeting either, I thought you might be in some trouble too, because you never miss a meeting. But since you're okay, I was wondering if you wanted to come see Tsunade-sama with me and see if she knows where Naruto is. Also, she already wants you to see her, so you need to go anyway! So, will you come with me?"

Sasuke stared at his female teammate, dumbfounded by the amount of words she had said so quickly. Obviously she was really worried, but what she was worried about was still sinking in. Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Turning, he saw it belonged to a certain blonde's elbow.

"Aw! Thanks for worrying about me Sakura-chan! But there's nothing wrong. I'm taking a leave from active shinobi work for a bit and stayin with teme, and the reason _he_ wasn't there is cuz he's a modern day sleeping beauty! Seriously, he sleeps more than a sloth does!"

The pink headed teen smiled slightly, not so much at the joke but at her teammate's behavior. The main reason she'd been so worried this morning was because of what had happened the other night. She was glad to see him acting like his old self, though she could tell something was amiss. His explanation was seriously lacking.

"Tell baa-chan that the teme will be there after breakfast." Still slightly suspicious, Sakura nodded, and as she turned away, the blonde teen shut the door.

Sasuke hadn't moved while his teammates spoke, but now that Sakura was gone, he turned to glare at the blonde, who in turn stiffened.

"Why is your house boarded up?" Said teen relaxed, and rubbed the back of his head.

"And here I was thinking you'd ask why I didn't tell Sakura the truth. They boarded up my house to make sure me or somebody else didn't break into it while I was here."

Sasuke studied his friend, searching for a lie amongst the truths. He knew there had to be one; he was getting used to the fact that most everything his teammate said was a lie or based on a lie. Still, he couldn't find one, at least not yet. With a sigh, the teen turned and opened the door.

"Oi! Where are you going?"

"Dobe, Tsunade-sama wants to see me."

"You're not even going to eat breakfast?" Sasuke just rolled his eyes, and walked through the door. However, he didn't miss what the blonde muttered under his breath as he did.

"Stupid teme, doesn't even appreciate how good he's got it."

But by then, the "teme" was out the door.

'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X 'w' ^U^ x_x X-X ^(^-^)^

This time Sasuke knocked before entering Tsunade's office. Of course, knocking didn't necessarily mean he waited for a reply, as he entered while simultaneously doing so, but at least he went through the motions. The Hokage didn't seem to share this opinion. From somewhere behind a mountain of loose leafed papers and packets came a low growl.

"What is it with you brats and barging in?" It seemed that the Godaime was truly angry about this, or more likely frustrated in general, because one of the towers of white fell, scattering in several different directions about the room.

"You wanted to see me?"

In reply, the sannin tossed a green lump of fabric across the room, which was then caught by the raven with ease. Unfolding the material revealed it to be a jonin vest.

"There's supposed to be a ceremony and whatnot, but I'm sure you don't give a care whether you have one or not, so I told them to skip all those formalities. You can thank me later."

"Hn."

Though, Sasuke hated to admit it, he _was_ thankful. It was one less thing he had to worry about; one less opportunity for people to fawn over him for nothing. Just the thought of a big ceremony disgusted him. The Uchiha was a vain and proud as they come, but even he drew the line at standing in front of a big crowd just to get a vest, even if that crowd was only made of his fellow shinobi. Besides, he was only a jonin; he should be an ANBU by now for kami's sake.

Assuming that was all Tsunade had called him for, the teen turned to leave; somewhat annoyed that he'd rushed over for naught.

"Oi, did I say you were dismissed? Lousy gaki don't have any respect nowadays." With an internal sigh, the raven turned once more to stand at attention with his always emotionless expression.

"Hn?"

"How's Naruto holding up?" Sasuke stiffened at the name, and in return the Hokage's eyes tightened. "I haven't received any reports from Itachi yet, though I assume I'll get one later tonight. I wanted to know how Naruto reacted to staying at your house last night." A ghost of a smile found its way onto her lips. "He was pretty adamant about not staying with you."

Sasuke didn't say anything, and he didn't want to either. In the back of his mind he knew any words he said about the blonde was a betrayal. The way Naruto had lied so smoothly to Sakura was proof of that. Even though his teammate had been caught, he was still spinning lies. It was as if he hadn't been caught in his own web like one would think: Sasuke, Tsunade, and who ever else knew just broke free. That being said, anything the Uchiha said, any truth he allowed, was against his friend.

But why did that bother him now? He had no problems running to Tsunade when he first found out. Anything else he said couldn't be as bad as _that_. Besides, they were trying to help him, not hurt him. Again the dream came to mind, and suddenly he doubted his own words. Still, what did it matter? Sasuke was already a traitor in the blonde's mind.

"…He did get fairly angry with me when we spoke, and broke a mirror once I'd left the room." The pair of hazel eyes widened.

"He didn't—" Sasuke shook his head. The Godaime visibly deflated, but somehow still managed enough energy to growl, "Good. Make sure there's not a single piece of glass left in that room."

With that, the Hokage went to pick up some of the fallen papers. Taking this as some sort of dismissal, Sasuke turned to leave. When he wasn't called back, he walked out of the office with long, quick strides.

#-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-& #-# - $-$ &-&#-# - $-$ &-& /-\

He thought had gotten everything over with, but kami really wasn't on his side today. Mere inches from the door stood his other teammate from the original Team 7. The pink haired girl's stood akimbo¹, and the frown on her face seemed to be etched into stone. The raven turned away from the other teen and began to walk down the hall in vain. From just one glance her way, Sasuke knew she'd listened to the entire conversation and that he wasn't leaving until she finished her interrogation. Sure enough he was less than five steps away before she was on his tail.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing," Sasuke grunted.

"You were talking about Naruto." The Uchiha groaned internally. She had been listening in. "Why is he staying with you anyway?"

"He already told you why."

"I don't have to be a shinobi to tell that was a lie." But apparently being a shinobi did nothing to help her understand that Sasuke was _not_ in the mood to deal with her. "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing."

"Why did he get angry?"

"We're always fighting."

"But then why did Tsunade freak out about him breaking a mirror? Why is Itachi giving her reports on him? Why did she tell you to make sure you cleaned up all the—"

Abruptly, the other teen stopped walking. Stopping as well, Sasuke turned to look at his teammate. Despite himself, the Uchiha could feel his heat rate quicken slightly and his head turned to lead as he turned. Sure enough her face told all.

"He had a bandage on his arm…he tried to kill himself didn't he?" Sasuke turned away from her and began walking once more.

"No." Again, Sakura began following him, this time her words quicker and more urgent.

"But he's been hurting himself, hasn't he? That's why he can't stay in his apartment alone. He needs supervision. And that's why Itachi's giving reports on him. And that explains why Kakashi said he wouldn't be on active duty. And that's why—"

"Yes!" Sasuke finally snapped, pivoting to face a shocked Sakura. "Yes, the dobe _has_ been cutting himself. That's why he's at my house. That's why he lied to you. And _that's _why you won't leave me alone!"

The Uchiha once again tried to make his way down the hall, this time swearing silently to himself as he did. What he'd told Tsunade earlier was child's play compared to this. In a moment of annoyance, Sasuke single-handedly destroyed the web of lies Naruto worked so hard to build, and the teen felt no satisfaction in doing so. From somewhere behind him, he heard Sakura talking again.

"Does everyone else know?" Instantly, the raven spun to glare at her.

"No."

"Then we should—"

"No," the word this time was said much more forcefully. Sakura looked confused.

"What do you mean no? They deserve to—"

"They don't deserve anything."

"So you're just not going to tell them?"

"Exactly."

"How could you NOT tell them! We're his _friends_! We want to help him! No one can help him if they don't know."

"Ever think there's a reason he doesn't want everyone to know?"

"But Sasuke, we can't _not_ tell anyone. Naruto's life could be in jeopardy!" In a blink of an eye, the Uchiha was at Sakura's side, gripping her arm tightly.

"The dobe's life could be in jeopardy if you do. You will NOT tell _anyone_, understand?"

He watched his teammate's jade eyes widen with each word, and waited until she reluctantly nodded. Only then did he drop his grip and exited the building as quickly as possible. Sasuke needed to get home before the day could get any worse.

=_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ =_= -_- _ _ *(*-*)*

He didn't think it was possible, but the Uchiha household was more boring than his hospital room. At least there Naruto had a TV. But here, even after an extensive search of the house, there was no such amenity here. You'd think that if you could afford a six bedroom, four bathroom house², you could afford a lousy television. Uchiha must have thought they were too good for TV, whatever.

His room was especially boring, and the gap where the mirror had been the night before drove the teen mad. He'd been staring at it for the last five minutes, unable to ignore the missing object despite how he wanted to forget the whole event. A slam followed by another slam moments later shook him from his thoughts, however, and the boy smirked.

"Guess Sasuke's home. Always the drama queen."

Finally, he averted his eyes, instead looking at the bandage wrapped around his wrist. Naruto'd forgotten he still had it on. Normally, he took such things off the second the wound stopped bleeding, but baa-chan had rewrapped it before he'd left the hospital and he'd forgotten all about it. With a sigh, he unwounded the cloth, slowly revealing his downfall. The wound itself was small, a dried layer of blood the only proof of existence. Soon the cut would fade and perhaps disappear all together if he was lucky. Of course, most scars didn't disappear.

Naruto couldn't stand looking at it any longer. It sickened him that he'd been caught because of one lapse of judgment. Rising to his feet, he decided to go back to the "study" Itachi had taken him to the night before. Anything to get out of the lifeless room.

When the teen opened the door to the study, however, he was shocked to find that it was spotless. In awe, Naruto walked slowly into the room taking in the room's restored grandeur. Just as he'd thought the night before, the room was in fact cozy, but now that it was clean it also gave off a welcoming, if not somewhat overpowering, vibe. Still in a daze, the shinobi made his way toward the bookshelves, touching the soft leather of the books and the aged parchment of the scrolls. It seemed they too were clean, because now the titles were no longer illegible or distorted under a thick layer of dust.

"The Shinobi Nations," he read the titles quietly to himself. "Shinobi Rationale, History of the Uchiha, figures."

He turned to look at a lower shelf with noticeably newer books. The teen picked one at random and started laughing.

"How to Communicate with an Unwilling Child. Wonder if it has worked with Sas—" Naruto stopped laughing when it occurred to him that the book could very well be for him as well. He turned to read the other titles, and felt his heart sink to his stomach. The blonde sighed.

"Your Depressed Child, Child Psychology, Teen Angst. Really?"

With a shake of his head, he returned the book back to its shelf and headed toward the kitchen. Naruto hadn't had much for breakfast that morning, despite Itachi's insisting that he have more, and the blonde's stomach was starting to growl. He was used to feeling hungry, and usually ignored his organ's protest, but he knew he'd hear about it later if anyone heard him. The blonde didn't make it to the kitchen, however, because on his way he heard a knock at the door. Despite the fact that it wasn't his house and therefore shouldn't be answering the door, the teen did so anyway.

"Oi! Naruto_ is_ here." The blonde blinked at the unexpected visitors.

"Kiba? Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, _Neji_? What are you guys doing here? How'd you know where I was anyway?" Kiba grinned.

"Well, the word on the street is that you got _arrested_! Of course, we figured it was just a rumor, but we were gonna ask Tsunade about it anyway. So me and Shino were going to ask Hinata to come with us, but she's in trouble—"

"Trouble?" Naruto frowned, turning to stare at Neji who was sure to know more about his quiet friend. "What kind of trouble?"

"Old Hiashi banned her from leaving the house for one reason or another," Kiba continued. "He wouldn't even let _us_ talk to her! But on the way out, we ran into Neji here who told us that Hinata said you'd be here." The cerulean eyes never left Neji.

"What else did she tell you?"

"Nothing other than she was worried." The Hyuuga replied smoothly, though the curiosity was evident in his voice.

"We ended up running in Shikamaru and Choji on the way here. They heard the rumor too and were going to ask Tsunade about it, but it's not just rumor, is it? It's true you _were_ arrested?" Finding no way to deny it, the blonde hesitantly nodded. "Dang Naruto! What did you do this time?"

Naruto faked a grin, easily slipping his mask into place.

"No point in talking through the door way, come on in! Teme's house is your house."

Stepping aside, he allowed the group of teens and one giant dog to walk in. As he did, the blonde noticed the glances Neji and Shikamaru threw his way and noted that he'd have to be extremely careful not to give anything away. Kiba and Choji would be easy to handle, but Shikamaru and Neji were already suspicious. Shino…well, he never knew what to do about him. Still, the blonde smiled as if he didn't notice and played host in a home that was not his. Not knowing where else to lead them, he made his way to the study. Once there, he allowed his guests to walk in first, but pulled Neji to the side.

"Hey…what would Hiashi do if Hinata snuck out?" The Hyuuga stared at the other teen, somewhat surprised by his uncharacteristic seriousness.

"Strip her of her heiress title and demote her to branch status." The blonde's eyes widened drastically with realization, but then returned to their natural state.

"Oh."

Neji waited for something more, but received no other response. Instead, Naruto turned and walked into the room to join the others as if nothing had happened. Without missing a beat, the jonin followed, still curious as to whether the blue eyed boy was going to tell his friends the truth. That was the only reason he was here, anyway. After all, Hinata held up her half of the bargain.³

*-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* *-* *_* *.* ^-^

Naruto was actually having fun making up a story. Since it had to be outrageous enough to get arrested for, the blonde was spinning some outlandish tale about how he single handedly tricked 100 shinobi into thinking Tsunade wanted to see all of them. The chaos was unpreventable, and the lobby had become so full, people were waiting in the hallways. Of course, this caused a lot of problems for the people who _actually_ needed to see the Hokage, but in Naruto's opinion it was worth the sacrifices. When baa-chan finally figured out who was behind the mess, she almost destroyed her office and sent ANBU to bring him in.

It was one of his more creative lies, if he did say so himself. What truly made it one of his best was the fact that, despite how unrealistic and improbable it sounded, the other teens seemed to accept it! There might be a job in sales for Naruto if he couldn't be a shinobi anymore.

Now that _that_ was out of the way, the group of teenagers was content to just hang out. Neji, who seemed to stop listening as soon as the blonde started talking, had floated over toward the bookshelves, and since then had taken an interest in one of the books. Shino, for reasons unbeknownst to the rest of them, had agreed to play a game of shoji with Shikamaru, and though it was obvious he was going to lose, he was surviving fairly well. Choji, of course, raided the Uchiha kitchen as soon as Naruto had finished his story, so he, Naruto, and Kiba lay sprawled onto the couches and chairs, eating and joking. And for the first time in a long while, the blonde was happy, or at least extremely close to happy.

Probably because everyone was submerged in their own workings, no one heard someone knock at the front door. And because they hadn't heard someone knock in the first place, they were unaware that Itachi let the person in, nor were they aware that he told said person where the blonde could be found. In fact, they weren't aware of the other guest at all, until there was a knock on the study door, which Naruto then got up and answered. But even if the group hadn't been caught off guard by the visitor herself, they surely weren't ready for what she said. Because the moment the blonde opened the door, Sakura let him have it.

"How could you CUT yourself! Why didn't you just _tell_ _me_! Why did you LIE? How could you even _think_ about hurting yourself! Don't you care about your friends? What about everyone—" The pink haired girl stopped mid-sentence when she realized the blonde was not alone. "Oh."

¹ I am in love with the word Akimbo! Seriously, it's like my in my top three fav words ever. You know, I think I said this in my other story XD Oh, well!

² I have no idea how big the Uchiha main house is, but it has to be fairly large = =

³ Don't you remember when he caught Hinata sneakin out the window he told her she could tell him about Naruto later? …I was about to say!

**So much for not telling anybody else, huh?**

**Major cliff-hanger I know, but I don't think I could sit here and type anymore T-T (My eyes are burning cuz I went to bed late because I was writing this, and woke up early to finish it. Plus I think my butt's asleep XD) So this chap is kinda a filler, but not NEARLY as bad as last weeks. (There's lots more important junk happenin :P)**

**Also:**

**I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE!!! ;_;!**

**School is MUCH harder and busier than I expected. After the way they built up freshman year and it turned out to be extremely easy, I expected sophomore year to be the exact same; boy was I wrong! I'm used to Algebra HW everyday, but chemistry too? And you know, I think I'd be just fine if it weren't for the CD! I swear, if I have to write one more literary analysis I will KILL SOMEONE! She even made the Personal Narrative project not fun! How did that happen?! T-T**

**Oh well.**

**On a happier note: Tom is my dad's b-day! ^^**

**And on a SUPREMELY happier note: My birthday is on the 23! : D Of course, I'm not going to be able to drive or anything (don't have my permit even) but it's an excuse to have a party and get presents!!! *evil happy grin* But that also means I'm gonna be busy…**

**Speaking of busy, sophomore year so far means slower updates T-T I'm hoping the work load gets easier to manage instead of harder as the year goes on, but we'll see.**

**Here's my Q of the week!**

**Does anyone reading this actually like Sakura?**

**I'm sure you've noticed I consider her to be almost as bad as Sasuke, especially with this chap XD**

**Peasle Rveie! (iF yOu CaN raed tihs YoU aRe speur dpoeor satrilcme!)**

**For the rest of us who aren't super dooper smarticle/don't even want to try reading that nonsense:**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!! XD**


	10. Hide

**Disclaimer- Naruto is not mine…cuz I don't have long enough attention span to make it last this long XD**

**Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, BANANA PHONES TO: **PimaBean, RogueNya, Stargazer, NarutoGirl9312, makura moderski, Blood Zephyr, extreme kiwi, Aachen, mikuloveitachi, vivi-vixen, Twinklebell12, InARealPickle, Emily1237, Yame, Nik0laiCarpathia, minyaka14, Immortal Fallen Angel, KCWolfman, MrsHellman, GravityMon, Suave Jiraiya, and LawfullyDecietfulElly **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND A HAMBURGER PHONE TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! ^^**

**Major shout outs to:**

**MrsHellman- I luv your story by the way ^^ **

**Emily1237- Thanks for noticing! I love incorporating inspirations into my works. And you could you please tell my English teacher that I do? She sure seems bent on that I'm not using enough commas. .'''**

**AND OF COURSE:**

**Aachen- Seriously, I love you! XD You make me so happy with your reviews! I can't believe you said I'm funny, only my friends say that :P (some other people did in my last story, but I was kinda slow to believe them too XD). Sorry, Sakura doesn't die a horrible, painfully death (I'll cry along with ya). And OMG! HAPPY BELATED B-DAY!!! WHOOP!!! September Sophomores rule XD!**

**On a side note: I got my first review from someone saying they didn't like my story! ^^ I actually gave myself a little pat on the back, considering I thought I'd get a flame of some sort MUCH EARLIER. Still, the review wasn't much of a flame, just an opinion, and it explained its POV. I kinda replied on why I did or did not do some things, and though it made me kinda sad for an hour or so, I got over it ^^. I know not everyone's gonna like me, but HEY! I got a review at least :P**

**Speaking of which……9 MORE REVIEWS TO 250!!! O.o OMG! My goal is 300 BEFORE chap 13! HELP ME T-T…….I'll love ya forever! ^^**

Chapter 10: Hiding

_~*~_

_I take this last chance to burn a bridge or two_

_I only keep myself this sick in the _

_Cuz I know how the words get to you_

~I'm like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You) by Fall Out Boy (Why must they always have such long titles? Course PTD has them beat XD)

~*~

Naruto saw _that_ coming. He had seen it coming from the beginning, really. The first day he had gotten away with cutting was the same day he realized that eventually he wouldn't. Some day, somehow, someone would know. Once that happened, things were going to go down hill from there.

Knowing it was coming didn't mean he was prepared. In fact, it may have had the opposite effect. The thought of someone knowing the truth had been with him for so long, he began to ignore it. At first, it had haunted him, even driving him to extreme paranoia. But, eventually the nagging voice faded to a whisper, and whispers were far too easy to ignore.

Perhaps it was because it took so long. Naruto had been cutting for months; it was part of the routine. The blonde had always thought his days were numbered, but the numbers were much smaller in his mind. Sure his friends were oblivious, but he had thought, hoped, they'd notice _something_. But such hopes were naïve, and he should've known. If they had never noticed him before, why would they notice him now? The blonde was the center of attention, and thus went unnoticed. People never seemed to perceive what was right in front of them. He could have been screaming "I cut!" and they would have answered "Hi to you too."

Kami, Naruto hated it. He hated them not knowing, but thrived off it as well. There was a feeling of fulfillment in playing all of those around you, and that satisfaction only grew when they believed you couldn't fool a child. Inside, he was laughing at them. The joke was on them. But sometimes his laughs felt worse than tears, though he never let himself admit it.

For some reason, the Kyuubi-container began to believe he'd be the one to tell them. He began to imagine walking up to Sakura and Sasuke on the bridge one day, and screaming the truth. But, he wouldn't have done it because he had "finally snapped". No, the blonde would know exactly what he was doing, and if he thought the time wasn't right, he could stop. Even in his demise, he'd have control.

Of course, that was illogical and unreasonable. It made no sense to turn himself in, and so it never got that far. As time went on, he realized he would take this secret to the grave if he could.

He couldn't, though. Sasuke saw to that. But even then, it felt like no one would know. No one but the witnesses of his downfall, that is, but he could deal with them. Trust could easily be gained from a few and a few was what they were. He could count on his hands how many people knew about his little habit. The genin would never admit it, but he was extremely thankful Tsunade was going about the whole situation in such a low key way. She could have told everyone, but she didn't.

But it seems that Sakura wanted a turn at ruining the blonde's life, and she'd done so in a spectacularly loud and obvious way. Naruto could feel all the eyes fixated on his back, some in shock, and some trying to see through the tan flesh to read his soul. For always being the class clown, the blonde hated attention. He wanted them to recognize he was there, but he didn't want them to look at him. They could stare at Uzumaki Naruto, prankster, village idiot, but they couldn't stare at _him_.

At the moment, they were staring past Uzumaki Naruto, searching for _him_, and it made his blood boil. The teen wanted to turn and scream at them to stop _looking at him_! He wanted to tear at his hair and scream at them to stop studying him; he wasn't their stupid lab rat that they could toy with! Naruto was a freaking human being too!

But the teen didn't do any of these things. Instead, he blinked at the embarrassed, but angry Sakura, and tilted his head in an innocent, confused expression.

"What are you talking about Sakura-chan?"

The teen waited, watching his friends with baited breath. It was a last ditch effort on his part, and though he highly doubted it would work, he really hoped it would. Everyone had fallen silent again, this time waiting for Sakura's reply. But Naruto see her reply in her jade eyes.

A flash of true confusion flashed in the girl's eyes. Like a flood gate, the blonde watched emotions flicker one after another. Confusion: What does he mean what am I talking about? Doubt: Maybe I got it all wrong and I'm way out of line. Realization: He's just trying to trick me. Then, of course, Anger: He's trying to TRICK ME! In another time and place, Naruto probably would've joked about how easy she was to read.

"You know what I'm talking about Naruto! Sasuke told me what happened!"

Mentioning the teme was enough to get him to drop the act. The blonde scowled. Sasuke really was doing a thorough job of ruining his life, and Naruto was begging to believe that he should return the favor. Of course, it would probably be easier to just kill the other teen in a slow and painful manner, but the real satisfaction lay in the payback of the matter. After all, Karma was oh so sweet.

"Oi! Answer me baka!" Sakura was about to give the daydreaming genin a slight shove, but his hand clasped her wrist as soon as she reached towards him.

"Don't touch me." He hissed, and everyone in the room tensed. Naruto glanced around the room, meeting each of the other teens' eyes for the briefest of moments. "What do you want me to say? Yes, I cut? Well, _yes_ I cut."

By now though, nobody needed that confirmation to know it was true. It was obvious as soon as Naruto tried to deny it. Still, hearing the word slip from their friend's mouth made it as hard and real as concrete.

Sakura was shocked by the admittance, though much more concentrated on the bone shattering grip on her wrist. Choji, who had momentarily stopped eating, had resumed doing so, but at a much quicker rate and with his beady eyes locked on him. Kiba alternated between looking confused, freaked out, and ready to kill him. Shikamaru's right hand was stuffed inside his pocket; probably clutching Asuma's lighter as he had taken to doing whenever extremely stressed or upset, and muttered something that looked suspiciously like the word "troublesome." Shino was, of course, unreadable. Though, from the way his head was tilted towards him, Naruto assumed he was watching him. And Neji…Neji did not seemed surprised, though he seemed extremely interested. Perhaps Hinata had told him more than the jonin had let on…

"Naruto!" Sakura squeaked, and Naruto's head snapped back to her.

She was tugging at his hand now, and he realized he must have tightened his grip. Instantly, he released her and his hand shot back to his side. The boy turned away from her, slightly guilty but still seething. He wanted nothing more than to leave, but her body blocked the only door. Normally, he'd considered the window, but after his last failed escape, he didn't really want to try _that_ again. Behind him, the blonde sensed his teammate's arm which was once more outstretched to touch him, but this time she drew it back.

"Naruto, answer my question."

"Which one? You only asked about forty." He snapped back, but it seemed Sakura was regaining her confidence.

"Why did you lie to me this morning?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please. Don't take it as a personal attack or anything. I lie to everyone, in case you haven't noticed, so don't be surprised if you find out everything I say is a lie. Like right now, for—"

"How could you hurt yourself, baka!" The blonde flinched at the yelling and turned to Kiba. Once again, he saw his friend's anger change into confusion, then anger once more. The genin averted his gaze feeling another stab of guilt. Things were much easier when he didn't have to worry about annoying things like guilt.

"I have my reasons."

"Well they better be some pretty good ones, cuz I'm about ten seconds from knocking some sense into you!" Instantly, the guilt evaporated

"Oh shut up! What do you know about anything? All of you are spoiled brats. Nice houses, nice families, some of you are even heirs. Please. Don't act like you know anything about me if you don't. All of you are ignorant, and nothing is more annoying than an arrogant idiot."

"Naruto—"

"Don't Naruto me Sakura! You're one of the worst. Prancing around with your head held high because you're the Hokage's apprentice. You pride yourself in the leaps you've taken in becoming stronger and in becoming a great medicalnin. But it wasn't as if you could get worse."

"You were so useless back then. Sasuke and I always had to protect you, save you. Kami, were you pathetic. Everything was at your disposal: perfect chakra control, astounding memory and mind, even ambition to impress Sasuke, as useless and degrading an ambition as it was. But you still couldn't do anything. You had wasted your time fawning like any other idiot fangirl, instead of being thankful for what was right in front of you. You know, you haven't changed. Not really. Inside, you're still a useless little girl pining for something you can't have. Whether it's after Sasuke, or the latest gossip, you're exactly the same."

Sakura stared at the blonde, shocked and shaken. Actually, her hands were truly shaking. There had to be some kind of mistake; Naruto would never have said this to her. Very few people knew how humiliated and self-conscious she was of her genin days, of the days were she woke and lived to impress Sasuke. Of course, her blonde teammate would be one of them, having been by her side at those very moments, and then witnessed the incredible change afterwards. But he would never try to use this self-consciousness against her. Naruto wasn't that cruel; he couldn't _be_ that cruel!

But he had, and what's worse: he meant every word of it. The icy blue eyes told the truth. And if Naruto meant it, others must think the same way. Even after all of her hard work, she hadn't changed.

Naruto watched Sakura silently wither beneath his gaze. The Kyuubi container wanted to sigh. She was easier to break than Kakashi was! At least he had prepared the speech for Kakashi; that work of art was years in the making. But Sakura? Please, he'd made that monologue on the spot. Of course, he had known her weaknesses; they were as bright as day after all, but the girl could fight back just a little! How did his teammates survive this long when they were already so emotionally unstable? Better yet, how could anyone blame him for cutting when they looked like they were about to jump off a cliff themselves!

"Oi! Why are you acting like such a teme, Naruto?" Kiba yelled, having finally recovered from shock at the blonde's earlier response.

"Well I don't know dog boy, maybe it's because I've been locked up and questioned non-stop for the last two days? Or maybe it's because everyone now assumes I'm suicidal and have been suspended for ninja duty until I'm 'stable'? Or maybe, just maybe, because all my so-called friends who have never cared about me before, suddenly start screaming at me and judging me when they have no right to!"

The room fell into a state of shocked silence. For a few never-ending seconds, the only sounds were Naruto's quiet panting after having screamed those last words as loud as he could. Finally, Shikamaru spoke, his voice no longer in its ever lazy, drawling tone.

"So that was why you were arrested." Naruto almost laughed.

"Yes, captain state-the-obvious, that was why I was arrested."

"You," Sakura started, but hesitated. "You don't believe all of that do you?" The blonde sighed in an irritated manner.

"Believe what Sakura?"

"That we never cared about you before." Naruto turned to stare at her, his expression unreadable.

"Yes." Instantly, several people in the room made to object, but the genin kept talking. "That's exactly what I think. Because, when you think about it, it's the truth." The male seemed slightly out of it; his voice a little too soft and dreamy, his eyes not particularly focused on a certain place.

"I've know most of you guys since the Academy days. Me, Choji, and Shikamaru used to play in the little park by the river after school. You know, you never once stayed long enough to realize I had to walk home alone, let alone asked me why one of my parents didn't pick me up. Even later when you guys realized I was an orphan, you didn't care that I had to walk by myself. You never asked if I was lonely, or if I was afraid. No one bothered to ask what it was like living alone, though I know many asked Sasuke especially right after the massacre. Nobody asked me anything, really."

"Even later, when we became the rookie nine, no one bothered. Some would ask, "How have you been", but no one listened to the answer. Things got a little better after I returned from my trip with Jiraiya, but I must have been nothing more than a shiny new toy because that didn't last very long. Everyone always spoke of me, but not to me. I was right in front of all of you, but I was nothing more than invisible."

"You weren't invisible Naruto."

"Wasn't I Sakura?" The teen snapped, coming back to reality. "If you could see me, why didn't you see when I was upset? Why didn't you see the scar on my wrist?"

"You hid it too well from us! If only you had told us—"

"If only I had _told_ you. Oh yes, if only I had. Then you could have stuck me in a mental hospital much earlier, right? It wasn't as if I didn't give you all the information you needed to lock me up. I gave you _so_ many hints! But, of course, you needed it in writing did you. You needed a banner with bright orange letters, hanging from the Hokage's faces. Well, forget it. It's too late now. Everything's too late now."

And just like that, the boy seemed to deflate. His head fell against his chest, his eyes resolute on one of the feet of the couch. It was as if the tank had gone from full to empty in a second flat, and everything screeched to a halt. The blonde was exhausted, not so much from the yelling, but from what he was actually saying. Now that he had finally stopped, he could regret speaking at all. If he had been thinking properly, he would have just let them think whatever they wanted to think about him, rather than play their game. Now, he'd given them a part of his soul. It seemed that his life was nothing more than one mistake after another nowadays.

No one knew what to say to that, though it wasn't for lack of trying on Sakura's part. She tried, and failed, several times to talk to the blonde, but each word died on her lips. When she finally managed to get a meek "oh, Naruto, I never—"out, but the plea fell on deaf ears. Everyone else, who didn't bother to say anything, realized there was nothing _to_ say.

Eventually, Naruto looked at them again and a single shiver went through the group, even Shino and Neji. There was no one behind the blue tinted glass of the blonde's eyes; there wasn't anything at all. Before their eyes, the life had been sucked out of the friend, and a doll was left in its place. With a mixture of awe and fear, they watched as the dummy walked to the door. Sakura, who still stood in front of the door, moved out of his way in the same zombie like state in which he walked, and turned to see him open the door. At first they all thought he was signaling for them to go, but when they stood, he walked out. When the looked into the hall, he was already gone.

O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 O,o o_o 0-0 ^-^

Hinata was extremely exhausted, indeed. She had long ago reached the point where her feet were nothing but props and her mind had retreated into a state of minimal understanding to preserve energy. Her "training session" with her father would be better named a "beat the daughter into submission session". After all, despite her years of training and her striving to become stronger, she was still a child compared to her father's experience and strength. In previous training sessions, though in general she attempted to avoid them entirely the best she could, her father typically took the offensive stance, as defense was her specialty. However, her punishment was not limited to eternal imprisonment, but being repeatedly knocked to the ground by Hakkeshou Kaiten, followed by the sealing of her tenketsu.¹

All that being said, it's understandable that she did not walk into her room; she tripped. She did not plop onto her bed; she fell face first onto the sheets. And she did not mumble against the cloths; she moaned and groaned in a strange harmony of exhausted happiness. Mere moments after resting her head, it became obvious the girl was standing in relevé² on the line of consciousness, and a black out sounded as good as Naruto's voice in her ears. And unconsciousness would be hers the moment she closed her eyes.

The knock at her door followed her cousin's entrance. Hinata knew it had to be Neji what with the way he did not say anything upon entering, opting to stand silently within the door frame. Had it been Hanabi she would have immediately announced her reason for coming into her room.

"Your team came to speak to you today." The male announced casually, or as casually her normally uptight cousin could manage. Suddenly, the extra painful training session made slightly more sense.

"What about nii-san?" Her words were whispers, but considering her condition, she was fairly proud that she could speak the words at all.

"They wanted to see Naruto. I told them where they could find him when your father told them to leave." In an instant, her exhaustion was unimportant and no longer had any room in her confusion filled mind. The girl sat up, turning to face her cousin, balancing her body weight on her shaking arms. His face was passive as it always was, but his eyes watched her with an emotion foreign on him, curiosity. Was her cousin curious? Could her cousin be curious? If so, than he was not the only one.

"Wh—why?"

"I wanted to see if he'd tell them the truth." He replied easily. Hinata had already explained to Neji of Naruto's 'condition' or rather, his 'situation'. What's more, he took it exceedingly better than she had. He seemed to understand that Naruto did not want others yelling at him, but that, however, did not correspond with his action of sending others to him who would only cause a crisis. In fact, it conveyed the exact opposite.

"An—and? Did—Did he?"

"Not by choice." Hinata stood.

"What do you mean?"

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The girl's knees buckled as she landed on the branch. Her muscles strained to remain tense, though they were so overworked that they shook at the mere idea of keeping her upright. Of course, she didn't risk sitting down, for fear she may faint and fall to the rough forest floor below. Luckily, she was only a few trees from the Uchiha compound. Once Neji explained what had happened earlier, she couldn't stay at home knowing Naruto was so upset. Her cousin understood, and agreed to cover for her while she was gone, a fact she was thankful for as it was improbable to create a shadow clone in her condition. Now that she thought about it, however, she realized he had agreed before she'd told him she was going.

Her landing on the last tree was inelegant and gawky, but it was a landing nonetheless. Despite her need of stealth, the teen was panting loudly and rapidly. Beneath her, the branch shook and the rough bark scratched the palm she was resting on the trunk. Of course, if the bark had not been rugged, she would have slid to her death long ago, so she could care less about the scratches. Her vision was starting to blur, but she was sure she wasn't imaging the slight smudge of blonde on the roof three houses, and two trees, over. As her vision righted itself, she saw that the splotch was part of a figure. With the last bit of her energy, she jumped from her tree to the next, then to the next after that. Finally, she found a tree where she could see the figure clearly. Just as she expected, the figure was none other than Naruto.

The Hyuuga girl struggled to breathe properly. Under the leisurely setting sun, her love's flaxen hair shone forebodingly, and the way his head was intent on the ground below… She believed Naruto when he said he wasn't suicidal; she would believe him if he said she wasn't Hyuuga Hinata. Still, his clear eyes were outlined by the dusk, and the twilight was ominous. The heiress planned on watching the other teen from afar, as she always had done, but now it was hard to stay away from him.

"I'm not going to kill myself." Her head jerked at his voice. The cool wind seemed to carry the sound over the distance, rather than mask it with each gust. She had thought she was hidden from the male, but now his words proved otherwise. The girl moved to come into sight, but was stopped by a second voice.

"I didn't say you were."

At first, she thought the figure was Sasuke, but the voice wasn't his. The similarities, however, were striking and she hypothesized that this mystery figure was Uchiha Itachi.

Hinata had yet to see the ex-nukenin, before or after his return. It could even be said that she was avoiding him, though whether it was consciously or subconsciously she couldn't very well say. Now that she had seen him, he very well did seem to be a murder, certainly more of one than the boy next to him. The man had a menacing air about him, and she didn't plan on making his acquaintance any time soon.

"But that's what you're thinking. What else would a 'would-be-suicidal-cutter' be doing on top of a roof?"

"Trying to get away." Naruto snorted.

"Well that didn't work too well now, did it?"

"Perhaps." Besides the rustling of the two males' clothes and the wind, it was quiet. Then, Naruto laughed.

"You know, I was kinda hoping it was Sasuke-teme coming up. Then I could have pushed him off."

"I believe Sasuke-kun is avoiding you."

"Teme's got a bit self-preservation after all."

"Your…falling out was very vocal." Naruto sighed.

"It wasn't a 'falling out'. Whatever _that_ means."

"Hn. I believe Sakura went to speak with him after you disappeared."

"That explains the crying. Didn't think she was actually crying for me. Teme couldn't have been too happy that she let it spill that he blabbed. Wonder if the teme let her have it."

"Hn." Again the twilight was silent. "You are fairly quiet."

"Yeah," the blonde shook his head, "guess I'm all talked out for the day."

"Hn." Naruto turned, and though she couldn't tell exactly, she could guess he glared.

"Oh I know what you're thinking. You think they've finally gotten to me, finally broken me down."

"Perhaps." The fair haired boy sighed.

"They didn't break me. I am broken."³

"Hn."

"Is that all you temes can say!"

"Hn." The demon container growled in frustration, and turned to look at the dying sun. In turn, the Uchiha stood. "…Despite what you're thinking, your friends do care. You should speak to them."

Naruto chuckled.

"Well I can't just leave her in the tree, can I?" Crimson snuck across her face, and instead of coming into view, she slunk further into the cover of the tress. The blue-eyed boy let her do so, at least until Itachi had returned into the house. Once he had, he called out to Hinata.

"Come on over. You didn't sneak out to stand in a tree all night." Despite the fact that she had, she came forward, and managed to make her way to the roof top. Once again, her vision became distorted, but thankfully she retained her balance on the tiled roof top despite her wooziness. Naruto smiled.

"I'm guessing Neji told ya everything, right?" The Hyuuga nodded fervently, though she mostly concentrated on sitting without falling. "Figures."

His voice had taken a sour tone, and Hinata turned to look at him. He in turn wasn't looking at her; in fact, he didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. Actually, he'd taken on the similar look he'd had before Itachi's arrival; of despair, of defeat. As she made the connection, Naruto seemed to snap out of it.

"Speaking of Neji, he told me something too." He turned to stare at the girl with a look she knew too well; one of disapproval. "You _really_ shouldn't be here."

"What—" The girl moved, turned, and suddenly the dizziness returned.

"They'll give you a caged bird seal* if they find out. You shouldn't be here." Hinata truly was trying, she was trying with all her might, but his words made no sense. It was all foreign to her ears, and more than a little intimidating.

"Naruto-kun,"

"I mean it. You can't—Hinata?" The sun was beautiful today. The remaining rays clutched the surroundings, intermingling with the sky, the trees, and even more astounding, Naruto. It was as if he was merely an extension of the sun, and though his face seemed awfully worried, he seemed too serene to have such emotions. In fact, the two blended into one another as her vision became more blurred. But the sun must be setting quickly, because it was getting dark fast. "Hinata!"

¹ The first in English is "Eight Divination Palms of the Hand, Heavenly Spin" wow ain't that a mouth full. The tenketsu are the connectors that open and close the flow of chakra. Come on, you watched the Chuunin exams didn't you?

² Ballet move, dunno if it's spelled right though. It's when you're standing on your toes…yea, dance class is starting to get to me XD

³ From House (though I probably changed a word or two). Is it just me, or is this season dumber?

* Okay, so I was right about this being the name, stupid website lied to me! XD THANKS Kyuubi's Vixen ^^

**HA! FINALLY, **_**FINALLY**_** UP! Omg, 2 colds, many projects, gazillion tests, and then, of course, CLUBS (I have a club for every day of the school week…except Tuesdays…which I may have one for that too soon T-T) have eaten away at my life. T-T BUT I have a three day weekend this week! ^^ So yea, it's all work though -_-'.**

**Also, I think my English Teacher, ie the CD, has made me hate writing. *GASP!* I didn't think it was possible, but apparently IT IS! I have lost all will to read, write, and NOW to SPEAK. I mean, COME ON! She totally gave another girl in my class all the credit for my epiphany because SHE put it on the "blog". Grr, I almost started swearing. .''' STILL, I will SOLDIER on and write fanfiction ^^. FORGET HER! If I end up moving this summer, I am SO giving her a piece of my mind at the end of the school year :P (Don't dare do it earlier, cuz I'm barely getting a good grade as it is). I mean, I'm not THAT crappy a writer…am I? O.o ;_;**

**Anyway, I'm just glad I got this chap up. I wasn't all too happy how it turned out (at least the Hinata part), but I think it's cuz I'm really upset. (I write well depressed, but not ANGRY gggrrrr!!!) **

**Here's my q for this chapter:**

**Do you have a teacher you REALLY hate? If you're no longer in school, did you use to have one?**

**Please tell me I'm not the only one, cuz this is my first teacher that I would truly drop outta school just so I wouldn't have to have her. (Many others feel the same ^^)**

**UBYFBZ!!! (There's some voodoo on you! :P REVIEW!)**

**Brownie points if you can guess the code ^^**


	11. Reality

**Disclaimer- I am merely taking characters that are not mine and manipulating them to do whatever I want……yeah, it's as creepy as it sounds XD (just kidding…I hope)**

**FREE FOOD TO: **Kyuubi's Vixen, Hokage Hinata Hyuga, vivi-vixen, fishbird, makura moderski, shinobi101, RogueNya, KCWolfman, FaerysWing, Aachen, mikuloveitachi, Immortal Fallen Angel, loveless, dragonzice, RockPopnMetal007, Suave Jiraiya, and Alice **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND FREE SNACKS TO ALL THOSE WHO FAVORITED AND/OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO **

**Kyuubi's Vixen- For helping me with the "Caged Bird Seal" and "Cursed Seal" : ) **

**And**

**Alice- For making me smile in the middle of Computer Multimedia Animation Technology class. (That's EXACTLY what I'm doin at the end of the school year. Cept I'm giving the password to the new email to everyone I know, cuz it won't matter if they somehow trace it back to me, cuz I'm prob moving : D We may even make a facebook group…XD)**

**YES! I know it's been……a long time ^^', my full apology and reasons (/excuses) why in the bottom Author's note! -_-'**

**Also: HAPPY EARLY THANKSGIVING!!! :-D**

Chapter 11: Reality

~*~

_But that's how it's _

_gotta be_

_It's comin down to nothing more_

_Than apathy_

_I'd rather run the other way_

_Then stay and see_

_The smoke, and who's still_

_Standing when it clears_

~Over my Head by The Fray

~*~

Hours slipped into days, and days passed to weeks. But minutes drew on for months and moments lasted for years. Memories took up the present, and the future was his past in another form. And as Naruto slowly changed, Sasuke realized he was not.

The next day after "everything hit the fan," as Naruto put it, had been the worst, the hardest, and the most anticlimactic day Sasuke had ever experienced. Because, once again, the Uchiha steeled himself for fate, for heartbreak…well, perhaps not the second, but he prepared himself for the worst nonetheless. His actions, however, were for naught. And, once again, his teammate pushed the spinner of this game he and Sasuke played, spinning the raven right along with it, and this time he didn't have to do it directly.

Seeing Hinata sitting at his kitchen table at 6 a.m. eating breakfast was enough to make Sasuke blink a few times. He'd woken up to quite a few surprises in the last few days, but a strange girl in his house was a new one. Even his fangirls never managed to make it through his doors. To walk into his kitchen and find the shy girl there was…awkward.

The shy Hyuuga must have been uncomfortable as well, because after looking up when he walked in, she immediately turned red and turned back to her nearly empty bowl of rice. Sasuke was ready to pivot and return to his room, but at that moment, Naruto appeared with two more bowls of rice.

"Oh! Good morning sleepy beauty! See what I was telling you Hinata? For a ninja, he sure can sleep a lot. He probably could sleep through an invasion!"

Sasuke scowled instinctively at the blonde, and all hope of returning to the sanctuary and solidarity his bedroom provided was lost. Instead, the Uchiha walked purposely to the chair farthest from the Hyuuga and sat, all while giving the air that he could care less about why Hinata was in his house.

"Aw, don't mind him Hinata-chan. Sasuke's a little cranky and confused; he's not used to having chicks over." Onyx eyes sent a death glare to the teasing blonde, however, Sasuke didn't miss how "Hinata-chan"'s face turned more of a blood red color…or maybe he was just seeing red.

Naruto looked from him to Hinata, then laughed before plopping down at the table and sending the two bowls of rice sliding down the table at the others. Sasuke easily caught the bowl in his right hand without taking his eyes, and his death glare, off the blonde boy. The girl at the table, however, was caught slightly more off guard, and the bowl crashed into her now empty one.

"Eat up!"

"Dobe, you're missing a bowl."

"Teme! If someone had gotten up a decent time I would've grabbed another bowl!"

"Manorexic."¹

"Oi! Says the person who skips breakfast nearly everyday!"

"Na-Naruto-kun. You can have mine." Naruto turned and smiled at the girl.

"Nah, you gotta eat up. Don't want ya fainting again."

Sasuke looked at the girl, slowly piecing together a plausible scenario including Hinata fainting, Naruto playing the hero, and her staying the night in a non-romantic way. For some reason, that slightly comforted Sasuke. Must be because he'd hate to think of what the two were doing in _his_ house just a few doors down.

"Dobe, why don't you just get another bowl?"

"Teme!"

And then there was silence. And then Naruto started yelling again, before going silent again. And thus was how the breakfast went. And thus was how everyday after went. Silence, with the occasional yelling.

When Hinata left, everything fell into a loop. Sasuke woke up, ate, trained, ate, trained, ate, and slept. Repeat. Team 7 had no missions, and after the first couple of days of being paired with Sai at the team's daily spare sessions, he quit going. Soon his monotonous routines began eating away his sanity, loosening his grip on reality.

The only thing that kept him tied to the rest of the world was Naruto. Though Sasuke continued to train alone, as Naruto was not allowed within ten feet of anything "sharp or pointy" also as the blonde put it, he ate with both Naruto and Itachi. The first few days, Naruto conversed with the deaf and the mute. He spoke for the entirety of the dinner, barely making dents in his food (though Sasuke usually saw him shovel it down once there was no one to talk to)¹. But Sasuke only listened with one ear, half aware, and Itachi rarely spoke. Soon, the blonde seemed to realize the futility of the situation and dinner became quieter and quieter.

Sasuke began to worry when this happened. The Uchiha watched the fox boy fade into the background, and if that could happen to someone like Naruto, what hope was there for someone like _him_? Was he too just going to fade away too?

But Naruto was still the dobe he knew, though it was no longer all the time and his characteristics were far less exaggerated. At random moments the old prankster would appear again, just long enough to yell about how much of a teme the Uchiha was and/or do something worthy of getting a rise out of Sasuke. But then, like a switch, he was quiet and lifeless again.

The quiet wasn't necessarily bad though. Strangely enough, Naruto spent most of his days in the study _reading_. Sasuke was surprised he could read, let alone that he would.

Still, there were bouts of time he could not ignore. Sometimes they lasted for minutes, other times for hours. And for those minutes or hours, Naruto would be just as bad as he had been on the bridge the day Sasuke was promoted to being a jonin. The Uchiha would come in from training and see the blonde staring out the window with glass eyes and his hands pressed against the clear barrier of glass. Other days, Naruto would be doing the dishes, but then stop mid-way through with a sigh and just walk off. It was strange to see him like that. Even though Sasuke was well aware that the dobe was here because he had cut himself, he couldn't believe he was depressed. But the bouts made it fairly clear; the bouts made it real. There was no way Naruto couldn't be that person unless he _was_ depressed.

Of course there weren't many of those bouts, usually only one every few days. So while they were impossible to ignore, they were easy to forget. Minutes after one of his bouts, Naruto could be found shooting spit balls at any bird within shooting range outside his window, or, once, drawing on his bedroom walls. It felt as if Naruto had two separate entities, and for some reason, that was easier for Sasuke to accept.

But he wasn't bipolar, or so said Itachi. The older Uchiha had said that to his brother, but he said little else on the matter of Naruto's condition. Naruto "met" with Itachi nearly everyday, but the two never said a word about their "sessions". Sasuke had asked Itachi countless of times if he'd learned anything about the blonde, but every time the answer was vague and usually said in a way that told him that he should go talk to Naruto himself.

He'd tried that once, despite the humility of having no other option but to. Sasuke's curiosity had somehow beaten his unsurmontable pride, and one day he found Naruto in the study and straight out asked him. Naruto said they spoke about better, more efficient ways of committing suicide. But then he swiftly changed his story to how the two of them planned to overthrow Tsunade-sama in a two-man mutiny. So he never bothered asking again.

And so the days went by, nearly the same way as the day prior. And though it drove him crazy, Sasuke never said a word against it.

Surprisingly it was Naruto who snapped first, probably only a day or so before Sasuke would've snapped himself. At dinner one night, the blonde asked for a pair of chopsticks, but Sasuke pretended not to hear him; it'd been a while since he'd gotten a rise out of the other teen, maybe a whole 6 hours. But when Sasuke did nothing after Naruto repeated himself, the blonde took his plate, stood up, and threw it against the opposite wall.

"KAMI! How do you two LIVE like _THIS_? You two are f-ing family, but you speak once a WEEK! What on earth is _wrong_ with you?! I can see why Itachi KILLED everyone!"

No one said a word after that, and Naruto had no breath left to comment on their silence. The blonde was looking at him, waiting for his teammate to give him some kind of reaction, probably one involving violence no doubt. But Sasuke felt no anger; in fact, the younger brother felt nothing. Before he'd known the truth, he would've been on the other teen before he'd even finished his sentence. But now…

Sasuke hadn't forgiven his brother yet for what he'd done. But he'd accepted what had happened, and usually acted as if the night was from another lifetime, far, far away, and certainly not his own.

When Naruto realized Sasuke wasn't going to do anything, his mouth hung open slightly. And before the Uchiha could block him, the blonde punched him in the gut. On instinct, Sasuke shot back with a right hook to his teammate's right cheek. The hit made Naruto stagger slightly, maybe even a full step or two. Still, they were within hitting range of each other, but neither made a move. Instead they stared at one another, glaring in anger for some unknown reason. Finally, Naruto laughed.

"Teme. You can never give me any satisfaction can you?"

The ravens watched the blonde laugh with a distant expression. Of the two, only Sasuke seemed surprised. But, what Naruto had said rang true, once again. And, for some reason, that made Sasuke angrier than any other insult his teammate had thrown at him.

"Dobe." Sasuke replied, and walked past the blonde, purposely bumping into his shoulder.

And as he walked past his brother, he could swear he saw a smirk.

: ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D : ) :-) : D :-D :P

Naruto picked at his nails carefully, flicking unseen specs of dirt this way and that. It had been easier to do this when his nails had long and sharp, but his nails had been cut and polished into perfect crescent slivers just that morning. Still, it wasn't as if he had anything better to do. The blonde glanced upwards at the dark haired Uchiha sitting across from him, still waiting for him to begin.

This had become a game of theirs, one among many. Since he and Itachi met everyday, Naruto had come up with small competitions to disrupt the monotony of his life. The funny thing was that Itachi rarely knew they were competing, thus making Naruto angry when he still lost.

The fair haired boy creatively named this one: who speaks first, which, of course, was a competition to see who could last the longest without saying anything. Naruto's current limit was 34 minutes, 17 seconds. He'd counted.

Still, he hadn't won once.

And at the rate Naruto was running out of fingers to pick, he knew he wasn't going to win today either.

"Oh Great One, who sits in thy chair and analyzes my every thought, what do we speak of this day?"

"What ever you want." Naruto mentally added a tally to the checklist in his mind. Yes it was another game of his, though not necessarily a competition. Instead, he guessed how many times Itachi would say "What ever you want," "It's up to you," or any variation of the two in a certain amount of time. The fox boy guessed 57 by the end of the week. That was number 38.

"Okay. Last night, I had a dream." The teen spoke quietly. "In this dream, I was a butterfly. I was flying around, and I landed on a flower. But then someone stepped on the flower and I died." Itachi nodded, so he continued.

"But then out of the butterfly came a caterpillar, a really, really ugly caterpillar. And at first I thought I was the caterpillar, but really I was a bird who swooped down and ate the caterpillar." Again, Itachi nodded.

"And just as I was flying away, I was blinded by the sun I flew toward and," suddenly Naruto started laughing. The blonde stopped, attempting to steady himself, then started laughing once more. "Okay, you win. I can't keep a straight face!" Once more, Itachi just nodded.

His psychologist's reaction made the blonde roll his cerulean eyes and sigh.

"Oh come on. It was more fun when you wrote the dream down! At least then I got to waste your ink with junk."

"Hm."

"I mean, come on! 'What ever you want to talk about'? For kami's sake, I'll be stuck here forever at this rate! You won't get to the root of anything if you let the problem speak on its own time."

"So, you want me to get to the root of the problem."

"I didn't say that!" Naruto snapped. "I said I wanted to go home. Don't psychoanalyze me!"

"You can't go home until I do." There was silence for a while.

"…Teme."

The teen turned in his chair to face the small window of the study and watched as a bird balanced on the sill. Things had slowly gotten worse since everything hit the fan. At first it was normal, understandable things. He could no longer look Sasuke in the eye, he ignored Hinata when she came to visit to discourage those visits, and he hadn't seen any of his friends since _then_. A couple came to call, but Naruto never bothered to see who, and eventually the Uchiha ignored the rings as well. But when they finally stopped trying, the fox container's downward descent became steeper.

Trapped in the Uchiha household, Naruto had nothing to take his mind off his thoughts. No missions that demanded his concentration, no training to numb his mind, and certainly no sharp razorblades to send his adrenaline pumping and pain to distract him. The teen only had schedules, routines, and motions to go through, and these motions drove him crazy. They needed no thoughts, and so his thoughts ran free and therefore were free to be haunted. And suddenly, he was having thoughts he only thought about in his dreams. His inability to control his demons, both live and imaginary, his lost of a trust he didn't know he had, and worse yet, whether he'd ever be able to go back. Because even his old, terrible, lonely life was better than this, and now that he was unsure whether he could go back to it, he wanted nothing more than to do just that.

But his so-called psychiatrist knew nothing about any of that. Naruto spent most of their visits wondering if he knew anything at _all_. Of course, Itachi _had_ to know _something_. After that faithful meeting with Sakura and the gang, Dr. Uchiha appeared more doctor-like, appearing with a folder and a pen and once even fake glasses. Ever since then, that folder was the third member of their meetings. Every once in a while Itachi would scribble something down, and Naruto had no idea what it was that he wrote.

Secretly, it drove him_ crazy_, or at least, more crazy than he already was. So, it became another game to see if he could say something that had nothing to do with anything and see if he'd still write it down.

"Is something interesting, Naruto-kun?" The blonde's head snapped to Itachi, his eyes squinted in a glare. The teen hadn't realized he'd been staring so intently at the spot where the bird _had_ been and wasn't about to give the nuke-nin the satisfaction of knowing his train of thought.

"No, you're just so boring that I fell asleep for a second."

"Are you not sleeping well enough at night?"

"I'm sleeping just fine mommy. No boogeyman or nothing."

"It didn't sound that way last night." Naruto's glare narrowed further, as if trying to burn a small hole within the other's eyes.

Last night had been another terrible night. He, no the Kyuubi in his form, had sliced his friends until the bled out in his arms. He had laughed as Sakura's pink hair was tinted red, he had stabbed Sasuke's eyes until they were redder than the sharingan itself, and he took extreme pleasure in using the rest of his friends as human scratching posts. The dream was so striking and real, he'd woken with a start and searched for a nail clipper. It was the reason his nails were now cut so short.

"And how would you know that? Stalking me through the walls?" Itachi wrote something in the folder, and Naruto growled. "What, are you making a note that I don't like stalkers?"

"'Showing signs of paranoia.'"

"I'm not paranoid!"

"Hn."

"I'm _not_ paranoid!"

"Hn." Naruto swore.

"What do I have to say, huh? What do I have to say to get out of this stinkin prison!" Itachi said nothing. "That I won't kill myself? I never was! That I will stop cutting? I have already! Why am I _here_?! Haven't I suffered enough?"

"Tsunade-sama says you are to stay here until you're well." Naruto jumped to his feet.

"What does that even _mean_? What f-ing ninja is _well_? We KILL for a living! We _murder_ for money. We come home and go back to our vices or whatever gets us through the day, and hope that we won't have nightmares for once! Kami, how many times do I have to explain this! I'm no more messed up then anyone else in this village."

"Perhaps,"

"Perhaps nothing! What more do you want from me? Do you want to know why I can't sleep at night? Do you want to know why I cut? Do you want to know why I fake a happy face?"

"Do you want to know why I can't sleep through the nightmares? Do you want to know why I can't sleep soundly when the Kyuubi takes over my body and when I laugh at the destruction I, he, causes? Do you want to know why I can't stand to think of how messed up my life is and how I can do _nothing_ to change it to the point that I cut myself to not think about it for a minute? Do you want to know why I figure that if I convince everyone else I'm happy, maybe one day I might actually be? Is that what you want from me!"

Naruto stopped yelling, completely out of breath and too angry to scream anymore. He was shaking with anger, and at first he didn't realize what he had just said. But it quickly sunk in and when it did, he started shaking harder. Kami, Naruto was an idiot. And Itachi's silence made it worse. Finally, Itachi spoke.

"That's a start." Naruto stopped shaking.

"A…start…?" The blonde said through grit teeth.

"Yes." Naruto stared at the Uchiha as if he was the crazy one, and slowly sat back down. When he did, he put his head in his hands and started laughing.

"Dear Kami, does the world hate me? Has everything I done been wrong? Do I really deserve this punishment?"

"And what punishment is this Naruto-kun?" Again Naruto laughed into his hands, though it could have easily been a sob.

"What else would you call this? My whole f-ing life has been a punishment! From the moment Kyuubi was put inside of me, to your dang superiority. What have I done wrong!"

"Do you think you've done something wrong?" Naruto's head snapped up to look at him.

"Would I be asking if I didn't? What other explanation is there!"

"The world is often unfair." Again, the blonde laughed slightly hysterically.

"Thank you for that great tid-bit of experience. I would've never realized _that_." Both became silent again. Then Naruto sighed. "Are we done for today?"

"It's up to you." 39. Naruto threw up his hands and stood.

"Sure! Fine, yes that's it. Good day to you!" As he went to walk out of the room, Itachi cleared his throat. The blonde stopped and turned to Itachi. "What?"

"Would you take this to Tsunade-sama?" The ex-nukenin held out the manila folder. Instantly, the teen's cerulean eyes grew wide, and his mouth fell open slightly.

"I'm not allowed to leave the house, remember? Not with the house arrest and all."

"I believe I can make an exception." Naruto raised an eyebrow.²

"Why?"

"Hn?"

"Why do you want me to take my case file to Tsunade? Why now?" Itachi didn't answer. Instead, he stood, laid the folder slowly and purposely on the table, walked past Naruto, and out the door way.

Said blonde blinked, and stared at the folder on the table. Just as slowly as Itachi had laid it down, Naruto reached for the object which constantly was at the back of his mind, hanging above his head like the blade of a guillotine. So many times he had wanted to read what was inside the manila doctor's file, and now it was literally within his grasp to do so. And as his fingers grasped the edge, that urge became nearly irresistible.

But he did resist. What was Itachi expecting him to do? Did Itachi _want_ him to read it? Was this some kind of manipulation trick? Or perhaps a treat for behaving like a good boy today and spilling his soul? There were plenty of reasons, but each one was what Itachi wanted. And there was no way Naruto was going to do what an _Uchiha_ wanted! But then again…Itachi may _not_ want him to read it, and _knows_ he won't read it because he had figured that Naruto would think that Itachi _wanted_ him to read it.

Yeah, he was confusing himself as well.

With a sigh, Naruto grabbed the folder and walked out the door. Sure, maybe he was nothing more than a loyal, potty trained puppy, but there was a higher chance that Itachi wanted him to read the folder than him not……maybe.

Again he shook his head, and walked a little faster. The sooner he gave this thing to Tsunade-baachan, the sooner he wouldn't have to wonder if he was making the right choice.

* * *

Naruto didn't know whether Itachi had come through on his word and made sure he wasn't going to get in trouble for leaving, but there was no way he was taking any chances. Instead, the blonde slunk through back alleyways, hidden with the shadows of building and trash. He didn't even dare go around to the front door when he arrived at the tower, instead choosing to enter through "the back door", which really was an emergency exit which he had learned how to disable the alarm for when he was 8. But once he was in, he took his sweet time.

The Hokage's tower brought both fond and bad memories. Most consisted of scolding and flat out being yelled at, being the prankster that he was. However, even those moments were held in high regards in Naruto's memories. Inside, there was no chunin at the desk; instead she was replaced by a small sign reading "gone to lunch, 15 minutes, please wait". The blonde glanced at the sign and walked on to the Hokage's office.

Once in a far away time, maybe even in a dream, Naruto had looked upon the pictures on the walls and imagined his own face next to them. In that same dream, he thought of different colors to paint the walls, creating different rooms, and adding skylights.

Later, he dreamed of leaving his mark on Konoha in a different way. In that still far away time, he decided he was going to do more than change a building or be a picture on the wall. He was going to be his home's hero.

Naruto stopped in the hallway and looked upon the picture of the fourth Hokage. He smiled a little, but not at the village's hero. It was strange thinking of those far away times at a time where those dreams were even further out of reach.

How long ago had it been since he'd believed in those ridiculous goals? How long ago had it been since he had such faith in himself and in his ability to prove himself in the eyes of those who doubted him? He'd repeated those dreams over and over again, and at one time he really believed that they were possible. But that belief had died. It died within his arms, like a malnourished child that slowly starved to death, and he could do nothing but watch. Once those dreams died, he never bothered to dream again. If he dared to dream, he dared to dream that he'd live to see a better day.

The teen moved on, though his eyes stayed on the picture a moment longer. There was no point in remembering useless thoughts. Those dreams would never have survived in his world, in this world. He'd given up on them after it became obvious that he was wasting his life, as so many others did before him, and that was that. What's more, Naruto couldn't believe he'd bother with foolish dreams and goals ever again. He'd have to be crazy, and no amount of therapy session with Itachi could make him _that_ insane.

As Naruto neared Tsunade's office, he had a smile on his face and an urge to barge into the office like old times. But, something didn't feel right. Slowly, the grin fell into a frown, and the blonde's steps became smaller and softer with each step. When he was within arm's reach of the office, he saw that it was left open a crack. The door was never left open. And then he heard the voices.

"When are we going to tell him?" The man's voice, for it was obviously a man's, was hesitant and pained, but firm.

"I don't want to tell him either, but he needs to know." Another voice said, before giving a shaky sigh. "Besides, we may need his help."

Naruto didn't bother getting any closer, because he knew who the voices belong to; Kakashi and Tsunade.

"But Tsunade-sama, this news…it couldn't be good…for his condition." A third voice, Shizune, said. And now he knew they were talking about him.

"I agree with Shizune, Tsunade-sama. Sakura tells me she hasn't been able to see him since he yelled at her and his other friends. I'm unaware of Itachi's observations on Naruto's condition, but I don't think he could handle this." Tsunade sighed again.

"Itachi's reports have been very vague, but it's clear he's not getting better. For all we know, he may even be getting worse."

"Then, Tsunade-sama—" Shizune was interrupted by a loud slam, and the sound of a chair toppling over.

"Do you not understand how hard this decision is? I love Naruto like my own, and I'd keep him away from this stuff for the rest of his life if I could. I'd keep him from being a ninja if he wasn't a stubborn idiot! But Jiraiya is _dead_. You can't keep that from him! Jiraiya _died_ leaving us information on Pein, and we may need Naruto's help. This isn't something we could hide until he get better! For all we know, that could be the rest of his life!"

Tsunade's voice was nearly cracking at the end, barely able to retain her strong, commanding, Hokage's tone she'd started with. But Naruto didn't notice the change in her tone. All he could hear is the words "Jiraiya" and "dead" ringing in his ears.

The words were so loud, he didn't hear the manila folder's paper flutter through the air, nor hear it as it slapped against the ground. Naruto didn't notice that he could no longer hear voices talking from inside the office. And even if he could hear correctly, he doubted he could hear his name being called out behind him over his own heavy footsteps as he ran out of the building.

¹ No, I'm not making Naruto have an eating disorder, though they do usually go hand in hand with depression and cutting. But I realized that any eating disorders for Naruto would probably stem from being unable to afford it, rather than a mental instability. But of course, that's just me being lazy : )

² Can u raise only one eyebrow? I can't XD

**Ah! Yes, a cliff-hanger! I know you prob wanna kill me, especially since this chapter has been long in the making (over a month?!?!), but is still fairly short (For me at least XD), AND I killed Jiraiya O.o. So……yea……explanations are due.**

**I'm sorry I killed Jiraiya even though I said I'd keep him alive! ^^' But a long time ago, right after I announced the vote, I got this vivid image of Naruto finding out the news by standing outside the door clutching a manila folder, and I HAD to write it! Still, I kept my word to the vote, and left him alive…for a little while :) Plus, I wanted to stay somewhat on track with the manga. (Of course, keeping Itachi alive threw things off, but I pretended Sasuke's return delayed Jiraiya's trip to see Pein by a few weeks. -_-') I tried to warn you though! With the whole, "I got an important mission that I can't stay with you to run off to" deal way back. …but I highly doubt I was gonna break my promise -_-' SORRY!!! T0T**

**As for why it's taken me so long to update…You won't believe it! I HAVE A LIFE! (*gasp*) Yes! I don't know how or why it took me 16 years to find one, but I've got it and you'll have to pull it from my cold dead fingers! :D If you want the major breakdown how amazing my weekends have been since Halloween:**

**1****st**** weekend- HALLOWEEN! : ) Went to watch my friend in DRACULA (with a girl Dracula, mind you XD) and YEAH we went trick or treating! (hey, we may have been the oldest kids there, but I totally confused everyone by saying merry Christmas instead of Halloween XD…one guy believed I was really serious O.o).**

**2****nd****- HOMECOMING!!! Yup! I had a date and everything with my best guy friend (*cough, cough*) and our best friends went with each other XD. Major fun.**

**3****rd****- VOLUNTEERING/PARTY/MOVIES, Fri, Sat, and Sun, respectively :P**

**And then of course, THIS week is the BEST school week of my life (but not the best weekend by far -_-'). My best guy friend became my boyfriend (and NO ONE was surprised…cept his friends :P), he **_**actually**_** acts romantic and holds my hand in the hall (I was really surprised, we both know he doesn't like attention let alone PDA XD), I got an early Christmas present (But now we have to return it cuz it don't fit in my room -_-'), my poem for poetry club got some laughs (totally worth the hour it took writing it ^^'), and of course…NEW MOON :P (TAYLOR!!! ……yea, so glad my boyfriend didn't come with =_='')**

**As you can tell, I'm majorly happy with my life right about now. Sadly, a life means less free time to write, plus it's hard to write sad stuff when I'm skipping around in mini circles like an idiot T-T Still! I WILL make time!!! (For example, last week I spent 6 HOURS STRAIGHT writing 2/3rds of this chap, and this weekend by stayin up til 1 for two nights in a row -_-') BUT IT'S WORTH IT!!! : D**

**Now my q this week is:**

**Who where you most angry about being killed in Naruto?! (seeing as I'm killing one for a second time XD)**

**RRREEEVVVIIIEEEWWW!!!!**

**Before the evil turkey, GEEEETTTTTSSSSSSS YYYYYOOOOOOUUUUU!!!**

**(yes! There are evil turkeys! Have you never seen one? They're VIOLENT!!! That why we made a day to eat em ^^)**


	12. See

**Disclaimer- Naruto's not mine…..but I'd love to get some of the money for the series :D (maybe then I wouldn't be so broke -_-')**

**VALENTINE'S CHOCOLATES TO: **UreshiiShoujo, lalalah, , dragonzice, Immortal Fallen Angel, Windschild8178, Tunazap, vivi-vixen, makura moderski, Aachen, demoncell, counter-intuitive, daisy, Suave Jiraiya, Blood Zephyr, Sexy Kurenai, jtwsnw20, , Kakashi Rocks The World, wolfsrainrules, RockPopnMetal007, The Only Love For Soujiro Seta, shadowninja-yuna, sakurawitch, Strgrl4eva, ., and Yet-to-come's-Psycho-wolf** FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND VALENTINE'S CARDS TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY!!! **

**SHE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Lol, yup, I'm alive ^^' and I'm SOOOOOOOO SOOOORRRRRYYYY!!!!! T-T I know it's been 2 MONTHS since I've updated, and u can nail me to the cross or throw my body in the lake, or burn me like a witch, or however you kill writers who take too long to update, I so deserve it -_- SO much procrastination, I SWEAR. On the good excuse side: I was up North for winter break, and then I've had so many weekend dates. Also: I had MAJOR probs starting this chap :/ I have to have written like 5-6 dif beginnings to this -_-' It's HARD to get this emo XD (That being said, this chap will be extra emo-licious ;D) But, in the end, it was some of my friends who were finally like, "Seriously, when are you gonna update?" ^^''''**

**With apology in mind BACK TO HOW MANY MONTHS AGO:**

**Heh heh heh, sorry once again ^^'''' I guess cuz I was never really emotionally attached to Jiraiya, it was majorly easy killing him? But to all the Jiraiya lovers out there, forgive me for my betrayal, or torture me extra long when u come to kill me for not updating :D**

**Btw, HAPPY EARLY V-DAY :D Consider this as my gift to u :P**

**WITHOUT FURTHER ADO (since it's already been 2 months): NEW CHAP!**

Chapter 12: See

~*~

_And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming  
Or the moment of truth in your lies  
When everything feels like the movies  
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive_

~Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

~*~

A boy running down a street as if his life depended on it usually attracts attention. When someone pushes past another, the other usually turns to look at the cause. It takes a lot of monotony to override natural curiosity, but it seemed that Naruto had run for his life enough times that even the lone alley cat did not spare him a glance.

But for once, Naruto did not know why he was running, let alone who he was running from. Behind him was no angry mob, no drunk men, no one calling for his death. From what he could tell, no one had bothered to follow him at all. They'd simply let him run away, and in turn, that was what he did. He ran. Up main streets, down dark alleys, with and against traffic; it didn't really matter where. The blonde wasn't thinking any further ahead then turning on the next corner.

There's something mindless and numbing to running. Done enough, the body falls into a pattern, a rhythm. With all the impromptu practice the Kyuubi container received, running became almost like second nature to him. By the sounds of his soles slapping on concrete or even sliding on gravel, he could guess how fast he was going, how much pressure he was putting on his muscles, and even how much energy he was wasting. At the academy, he used to brag about his mad skills, but no one would believe him. The then 9 year old boy had made the mistake of asking a random teacher to time him, who then smudged the numbers to prove that he was wrong, and made him unbelievable. The blonde never ran for anything other than training or emergencies after that.

But it was nice running, it gave the same sort of feeling of being that cutting had, though not in as high a dosage. Maybe if he'd remember how good it felt to just run on any other day, it could've done him some good. Now, however, was a bad time, and running was not going to fix his problems. Jiraiya was _dead_, and the only thing that could make _that_ go away was a blade.

Naruto didn't know how long he'd been running for, but he figured now was as good as any time to end. After slowing, the blonde finally stopped and looked at his surroundings. The teen knew Konoha upside down, backwards, blindfolded, but he couldn't quite place where he was. He was in an alley of some sort, probably in Konoha's middle class judging by the clear cement walls void of any writing and by the way the trash was still within the can and not strewn around the surrounding area. Normally, the boy would've quickly walked away; this area and the people who lived regular lives and had happy little families always made him feel more out of place than any other part of Konoha. Today, however, none of those feelings seemed to occur to him.

With a sigh, the teen walked up to a wall, turned his back to it, and let himself slid down until he hit the rough ground. Naruto sighed again, and dug his head into the wall behind him. Maybe he could stay here, live here, so what if he was out on the streets? He could survive, he knew how. The teen closed his eyes to imagine life in this chance alley he'd winded up in, but all he could see was Jiraiya's face. Instantly his eyes snapped open, and he focused on the wall across from him instead. It seemed bigger from down here, more imposing and menacing. Like, at any moment, it'd bend over him and swallow him. Perhaps that's why the alley looked so nice; the walls ate anything unseemly.

Kami, Naruto was losing it. Walls eating people? For a third time he sighed. A blade would be _really_ good about now. Of course, where was he going to get one? He couldn't very well go home or the _prison_ he lived in now. Like always, he had no money and couldn't afford a butter knife, let alone a kunai. Oh how easy it would be if he friends didn't know about his secret hobby.

The blonde sat up straight to think for a second. Was there someone who didn't know? If Neji knew, Naruto had to assume the rest of his team, including Gai-sensei, knew, which then meant that the other team's sensei's knew, and that Ino had to know, and if Ino knew than it must have been all over the gossip network, and…. Yup, the teen was screwed. …But what if it hadn't made it to the Academy? It wouldn't be the first time he'd begged Iruka to let him borrow a kunai…

That guilt that had been appearing more frequently as of late visited again and Naruto regretted even thinking of that as an option. He could only imagine how Iruka would react if he later found out he was helping him hurt himself. Still, that didn't mean the teen wasn't going to. The teen just had to be more creative in finding his drug. Too bad his secret stash had been robbed right before he'd been arrested and that he didn't have anymore he could retrie—.

Kami, Naruto really _was_ losing it. Maybe Sasuke didn't just call him a baka to get on his nerves after all. After jumping to his feet, he took off to find the nearest exit out of Konoha.

* * *

After several wrong turns and a nearly fatal incident with a squirrel, Naruto finally came upon the clearing. The boy hadn't come here very often, no more than five or six times to tell the truth, but he could tell instantly it was the right clearing. To his left was a tree with several cuts in a line, almost identical to his leg. Straight across the clearing laid another tree, its bark marred where his frustrated punches due to Sasuke's promotion landed. Yup, it was the clearing he was looking for.

With a small smile on his face, Naruto made his way to another tree, separated from the others to his far right. Looking at it, one immediately noticed how much older and withered it looked compared to the other trees. As one neared, it was obvious that the darker side of nature had overcome the poor tree, and that tree disease and decay had slowly consumed its center until it was nothing but a hallow husk.

Maybe that's why he chose it. Of course, the more logical reason Naruto chose _this_ tree over the others was because of the fact that it was indeed hallow, and therefore it was best for storing things. But, then again, sentimental reasons sound better than logical ones.

Finally, Naruto reached the shell of the tree and searched what was left of the bark. The tree was like a cupboard now, what with all the holes scattered on the trees. After searching several around the mid section of the tree, Naruto saw the small notch marked over one of the holes. Without hesitation, the teen jabbed his hands into the crevice. As expected, the hole was not a pleasant place. The blonde's hand was instantly engulfed in spider webs (maybe even a spider or two), and as you felt the around he could feel fungus growing on every inch of bark. Until he felt canvas, that is.

His smile widened slightly, and he gripped the canvas bag, careful to not spill any of its contents. Just as carefully, the teen extracted the bag. Sure enough, it was a plain canvas bag, one that looked like it could be used to hold medicine or money, but Naruto knew it had neither of those. The boy pulled at the bag's string, before tilting it slightly to let its contents to fall onto his hand. Out fell a single kunai, kept just in case.

Naruto had been fairly calm up until this point, though he had been itching for this moment; the moment when he would have something sharp in his hand once more. But now, that calm rushed faster than a river from his body and he could see his hand shaking as he gripped the blade's handle. The metal was frigid against his skin which burned from running and anticipation, but he almost dropped it from the shock, the _guilt_, it sent through his fingers. Kami, not this again. He would _not_ bend to a feeling; he could _not_ bend to its will.

But what would Jiraiya think if he cut? _"Yes." It was Jiraiya's turn to flinch. _Naruto winced at the memory and the look on Jiraiya's face when the teen told his sensei that he'd cut while they were traveling together.

But Jiraiya was _dead_. Gone, lost to the afterlife, never to return from his mission unless they recovered the body. He was the _reason_ Naruto was here, _he _had left _him_. What else mattered?

Fueled by this reasoning, the blonde dragged up his sleeve revealing pure skin, stretched taunt on his bones and muscles, just begging to be sliced, and Naruto was not to deny it. With a single movement, the boy had torn through the flesh just below his elbow, and, slowly, small dots of liquid scarlet bubbled through the opening, pooling at the line before sliding down his skin. The smallest prick of pain registered at the back of the blonde's mind, but Jiraiya's face was clearer than the pain.

The boy scowled, bringing the kunai an inch above his wrist before adding a dangerous amount of pressure to the blade. With ease, the metal broke the skin, this time resulting in a greater amount of blood dripping from the wound. Pain streaked across his mind, blinding his senses, but only for a second. And a moment later, he could hear Tsunade's voice ringing in his ears.

"_Jiraiya is dead." _

No! He wasn't supposed to think of him, not right now. Kuso!

Quickly the boy switched hands, noting how quickly he was losing feeling in his left fingers and knowing that if wanted to make cuts on his opposite hand, it would be impossible to do so after a few minutes. As soon as he had the kunai secure in his weak palm, he made 3 sloppy slices about mid-forearm on his right side, before having to switch hands back. Kami, why couldn't the pain go away? Why couldn't he just forget that he was still alive?

Naruto didn't know when he'd started crying, but by the fifth cut on his left arm, he felt salty tears sting his wounds. His head was getting far too lightheaded, and the teen could see that the Kyuubi was now closing his first cuts. But when the boy saw this, he began to cut faster, deeper, as if racing against the demon. It seemed as if he was winning too, because, though the Kyuubi could close the wounds easily, he couldn't replace the blood the boy lost.

**Gaki, stop it already. You've already lost too much blood. Oi! Gaki.**

The demon was speaking to the teen, but he didn't pay attention. He could hear the monster cursing at him, threatening him, but Naruto pretended he could not. Because, it didn't matter if he acknowledged the Kyuubi; it didn't matter if agreed to stop, because he didn't think he could. All he could think about was stopping everything else that hurt him in his life: the words, the loss, the loneliness. The dizziness and lightheadedness, the blood loss, the certain death that would result if he continued to lose as much blood as he was losing: none of that mattered to him anymore.

No, he'd stop thinking about Jiraiya; he'd stop thinking of all other pain, no matter what it took.

: ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-; : ( :-( T-T T_T ;_; ;-;

Sasuke was not a happy shinobi to say the least. The moody teen knew the day would not go well the minute he woke up with a cat on his chest. As a shinobi, his first instinct was to slaughter whatever owned the pair of sky blue eyes staring into his own onyx ones. Luckily for the cat, his Uchiha instincts allowed him to take in the situation with a calm, emotionless demeanor before committing any needed slaughtering. Once the boy realized it was only a very oblivious kitten, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit dishearted. Oh the fun he would've had if he had just killed the dumb animal when he could claim ignorance.

As if the orange ball of fur could hear his thoughts, Nato arched his small spine and let out a ferocious hiss, before jumping off his chest and scurrying out the door. Yes, from that moment Sasuke knew his day would be better spent just staring at the ceiling, but, with a sigh, the youngest Uchiha got up anyway.

Sure enough, Sasuke's day only got worse and worse. At first he thought his alarm hadn't gone off once more when he found no one in the kitchen enjoying breakfast, but midway through an apple, the teen realized the sun was just beginning to rise. Knowing he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again now that he'd woken up, the teen went out to train early. Due to this head start, however, Sasuke finished his training regiment at least a full hour, maybe even two hours, earlier than usual. While any normal shinobi would have been ecstatic with the free time, Sasuke grimaced at the thought. What would he do for 2 whole hours? The teen considered starting the training he did after lunch now, but the thought of spending an hour at home later when Naruto was more likely to be about seemed even worse to him.

It wasn't as if he didn't like Naruto being there, but… no that was the jist of it. After Naruto's outburst two days ago, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to see the blonde. Each time he did, he began to notice things he seemed to have overlooked since he'd been admitted to his makeshift rehab. How the blonde's hair seemed to be less vibrant, his arms seemed to become as thin as his face, and worse, how the boy seemed almost childlike in his actions. The few times the raven haired teen caught a glimpse of his teammate walking down the hall, it was painfully obvious how each step seemed hesitant, as if he didn't know whether he was suppose to be there or as if he'd forgotten where he was going.

But that was nothing when he noticed that Naruto wouldn't look him in the eye. At first, Sasuke brushed it off as a fluke, or perhaps he was still mad from the night before, but then he noticed the teen _never_ looked at him straight. The Uchiha tested the blonde, asking him questions, making him angry, once he even tripped the boy so he could catch him. But every time, he wouldn't look at him in the eye.

The moment Sasuke realized it was true; the thought never left his mind. When did his friend stop looking at him? What had happened that made him stop? It was all the teen could think about. Slowly, the Uchiha began to remember interactions between the two of them, all of Naruto at the Uchiha compound, and all of which the other boy did not, in fact, look at him in the eye.

Sasuke swore. The teen looked down at his now bleeding finger and the kunai he'd been picking up. The once flawless metal now had a large crack running down the center, and as the Uchiha had picked it up from holding the flat part of the weapon's blade, he must have cut his finger as he grabbed the crack. He frowned at the blemish on one of his nicer kunai, knowing that now he'd probably have to get rid of it. It really was not a good day.

With a sigh, Sasuke stuffed the kunai with the rest, and began to walk back home. He was a bit hungry after all.

* * *

Normally, Sasuke arrived home from training after Naruto and Itachi had finished lunch, though on the odd occasion, like today, he arrived as they were still eating. To his surprise, however, only Itachi sat at the table eating.

"I sent Naruto out." For once, Sasuke was more stunned by what his brother said rather than the fact he'd answer a question that the teen had yet to ask.

"What do you mean by 'out'?" His older brother looked at him, with a slightly worried look as if he seriously thought Sasuke didn't know what the word "out" meant, and Sasuke returned the look with a glare. "When?"

"Earlier." The younger was about to retort, but instead pivoted and left the room.

There was little point in wasting time trying to pry information when his brother was like this. It didn't matter that Naruto wasn't suppose to leave the house, let alone be sent off to only Itachi knows where, Sasuke would just have to let it slide. Once again, the Uchiha would have to swallow his curiosity and perhaps take out his anger on a log¹. Well, lunch was now out of the question, since the kitchen held an exasperating excuse for a human being.

Before he could leave again, Sasuke was stopped by a knock on the door. The teen stopped and stared at the door, certainly not wanting to open it, however, relishing in the excuse to waste a minute or so. What's more, it could be Naruto behind the door, and Sasuke didn't know whether he considered that a good or bad thing.

The knock came again, this time louder, and slightly more urgent, if not irritated. With a sigh, the raven haired teen walked to the door and pulled it open roughly.

"Yes?" To Sasuke's surprise it was not anyone he knew, per se, but an ANBU, with a very familiar mask.

"Uchiha-san, has Uzumaki-san returned?" 'Uchiha-san' looked at the masked man emotionlessly, though really his curiosity spiked infinitely.

"No."

"Thank you for your time. Uzumaki-san is missing, and Tsunade-sama demands that any information on his whereabouts be reported to her if and when any is received." Instantly, Sasuke went on alert. The ANBU turned to leave, but Sasuke snapped at him.

"What do you mean missing?"

"His whereabouts are unknown. Thank you for your time." Again, the higher ranked shinobi turned to leave, only to be stopped by the teen once more.

"What do you mean his whereabouts?"

"Where he is. Thank you for your time." Before Sasuke could ask another ridiculous question, the ANBU disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke swore, and rushed out the door, slamming the door behind him.

He assumed Itachi had heard everything anyway.

O.o O O o o o.o O.O o.O O.o O O o o o.o O.O o.O O.o O O o o o.o O.O o.O O.o O O o o o.o O.O o.O O.o O O o o o.o O.O o.O O.o O O o o o.o O.O o.O

Sasuke cursed as he finished upturning every stone and sweeping away every stray leaf of the last training field in Konoha. His searches were inadequate and fruitless, and his already existing frustration had escalated until the teen was in a rage.

The Uchiha was at a loss, and his ignorance of Naruto, which he'd been well aware ever since his promotion, was so prominent that Sasuke wasn't sure if he even knew his teammates name. Because, once the raven haired boy began his search, he had no idea where he should start. A friend's house? The ramen stand? A training ground? He assumed the ANBU would visit their peers, and therefore skipped the unbearable and excruciating task of visiting each one of the original rookie nine and Gai's team. Though he doubted the missing blonde would be there, the sharingan wielder passed by the ramen stand his friend loved, but saw no sign of his presence. And now, the training grounds turned out to be a bust as well.

So where could he be! Did Sasuke really have no idea where the dobe could have disappeared to? There couldn't be many places he'd run to, could there? Perhaps he should check the bridge the team met on? He'd already checked the training field where they took their bell test. Where else had he seen the blonde visit?

Images of Naruto with a certain Hyuuga in a clearing came to mind, and, though he had no idea if he could ever find the chance clearing again, Sasuke decided to give it a shot.

;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D;) ;P ; ) ; D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D;D ;) ;P ; ) ; D ;D

Someone needed to make a map of Konoha and its forests, because, within two minutes, the Uchiha was lost. Well, not lost, Uchiha don't get lost, but he most certainly hadn't found the clearing he was looking for…nor did he know if he was even near it. A sane man would turn on their heels, lift their hands to the sky, and give up while they were behind; however, Sasuke was not in the best state of mind. In fact, all Sasuke could think of was that, if he were to give up now, he would have no choice but to return home, and wait for any news like a worried mother, and _that_ was Itachi's job.

But even a stubborn man realizes they're beat every once in a while, and, once Sasuke passed a try with two slash marks signaling he'd passed the same spot twice already, he was about to put on an apron and join his brother in the kitchen. In a last ditch effort of finding the clearing, Sasuke jumped from the tree branches and walked aimlessly forward. It was a highly flawed and dim-witted idea, but, perhaps, maybe, the teen could find the clearing if he was on the ground. After about 100 meters² and after repeating the phrase, "ten more meters, then I'm done," several times, the Uchiha heard it.

Or perhaps he imagined it. But then he heard it again, a soft noise, somewhere between a sob and a cough. In an instant, Sasuke was following the noise, and, sure enough, the teen came upon a clearing and a boy.

Sasuke froze, but his heart jumped to his throat. After all the effort the Uchiha had put in to find the teen sitting, crossed legged, on the other side of the clearing, you'd think he'd react somehow. Yell, hit the blonde for causing him to come looking for him, or at the very least make his friend acknowledge his presence. But, as he stared at the slumped shoulders of the obviously crying teenage boy, Sasuke couldn't respond. Something was wrong, though he didn't know how.

Then, he saw it; red. The normally green grass surrounding the blonde's feet had been stained red. Before he'd realized it, the raven haired boy was across the clearing and was grasping the other teen's wrist, successfully stopping the knife in his hand from making another cut. Naruto hissed in pain as Sasuke gripped still open wounds, and his eyes snapped up to his onyx ones for the first time in a very long time.

Strangely, the cerulean eyes that stared back at him were no longer dead, nor dull, and certainly not void of any emotion. In fact, they seemed to scream at him, plead with him to let go. There was so much pain in the pools of water colored eyes; pain Sasuke had never seen from the blonde, and in any other situation, the Uchiha would have done whatever it took to make sure his friend was never in any pain like that ever again. But, right now, nothing was going to distract him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Sasuke yelled at his only friend, ignoring the obvious flinch the blonde made at the volume of his voice at such a close proximity. Unsurprisingly, Naruto said nothing in reply, and, in anger, the raven shook his arm, causing him more pain. "ANSWER ME DOBE."

His only reply was the blonde shutting his eyes. The sharingan wielder felt the other boy tug at his grasp weakly and he couldn't tell if it was because he didn't have the will to fight or if it was because he didn't have the strength too. Either way, the results of those two states could be deadly, especially with a kunai still in his hand.

"Let go of the kunai Naruto." Meekly, the blonde shook his head. "Let GO!"

Sasuke jerked his friend's arm, and the kunai toppled to the grass. Now that the main threat was out of the other teen's hands, the Uchiha took the chance to see his condition. As he stared, the deep gashes on his arms slowly healing, noticeably slower than the usual speed at which Kyuubi healed the boy's wounds. That enough was enough to cause Sasuke to worry, but that coupled with the amount of blood on the teen's arms, clothes, and on the clearing floor made him tense.

"How much blood have you lost?" Naruto still didn't make a sound. "How much blood have you lost! Dobe, ANSWER." The other teen mumbled something unintelligible. "What?"

"What does it matter."

"What do you mean 'what does it matter'? It's a matter of life and death baka!"

"And?" Sasuke swore.

"What's wrong with you! What happened to "I'm not suicidal" and that "I'm not going to cut anymore" crap you promised?"

Naruto once again didn't reply; instead, he was able to yank his arm away from his teammates grasp, as well as push him away. Shakily, the teen got to his legs, but then needed to lean on the tree for support. Sasuke watched the blonde stand with emotionless eyes, still too angry to even consider helping him or worry about whether it was good for him to stand or not. Peculiarly, Sasuke wanted the teen to stand; he wanted him to fight back. It was almost as if he _wanted_ Naruto to suffer.

Then, Naruto did something strange. He began to walk _toward_ Sasuke. Said teen just watched at his teammate struggled the three steps it took to close the gap between them without saying a word or making a move to meet him halfway. When the other boy finally made it to him, he just stopped and stared.

After having gone without looking Sasuke in the eye, Naruto seemed to have no problem doing so now, and as they stared with locked gazes, the Uchiha could see the emotions fading once more. As he stared, the raven could see the blonde dying again. Finally, he smirked.

"I can't do it teme." Sasuke stared at his friend, and then narrowed his eyes.

"Do what?"

"Be like you." The Uchiha noticeably tensed, but kept a blank face.

"Meaning?" He asked through grit teeth.

"I can't be an empty shell. I can't go through the motions just to get through a day. I can't live without feeling _something_."

A small voice in Sasuke head was yelling in protest. He _did_ have reasons to get through a day. He _did_ feel; though, as of late he mostly felt guilt and worry, but those were still emotions. But another voice, one that sounded familiar but certainly not his own, told him the first was true. The raven was empty. Sure he could be filled, but he hadn't felt whole in a long time. Not since he saw Naruto cutting; not since he saw the blonde fading.

"You remember that one day, back when you used to sit on that little deck everyday after the Uchiha massacre, when you jumped into the lake?"

Of course he did, but his eyes narrowed further in suspicion as to how Naruto knew about that day.

"Well, I saw you jump in. At first I thought you had fallen in, but I knew you couldn't have. Still, you didn't come up right away, and, even though I thought you might have been drowning, I didn't make a move to go help you." The blonde's smirk grew.

"The only thing that came to mind was, 'Kami, he's actually killing himself'."

"I'd never do that." Sasuke snapped while sneering at the blonde.

"I know that now, and don't look so disgusted, I didn't think badly of you for doing it. Actually, I was impressed." The boy stopped, obviously looking for Sasuke's reaction. When he didn't receive one, he continued.

"When I said I wasn't suicidal, I never meant I _wouldn't_ kill myself, I meant I _couldn't_ kill myself, teme. I'm a _coward_, teme. I know that I would never be able to make that last cut; I wouldn't even have the heart to get that far! Maybe if I was easier to kill, I'd be able to do it, but even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have the will to make enough cuts to kill myself." The blonde chuckled sadly.

"This is as far as I've ever gotten, but, once again, you seem to be doing a great job at ruining my life."

"I'm saving it." Naruto stared at him, his eyes still blank and unreadable.

"Are you?"

Suddenly, Naruto turned around, and, even more surprisingly, walked out of the clearing with ease. Within seconds, the teen was gone, and Sasuke hadn't made a single move to stop him.

¹ LOGGED! "It's log, log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood! It's log, log, it's better than bad, it's good!" ……shamelessly plugged in some Naruto Abridged Series there.

² Does the Naruto world use meter? :/ I'll assume so, since they obviously won't use feet.

**There we go! 2 months in the makin, I hope it at least don't stink XD It's really hard to write so emo in this stage of my life *cough, stupid, cough, love, cough* But I'm kinda surprised how much emotion I still managed to catch in some bits ^^ (in my opinion of course :P)**

**So along with wanting to know what U think of this chap, I have a BIG QUESTION:**

How long should this story be?

**My plan was from 10-15 originally, but I already passed ten, and to end at 15, I would only have one more reg, then the two alt endings (which is doable, mind you, but would u be satisfied with that? XD) So yea, how much is enough? (please nothing ridiculous like 30 CHAPTERS, cuz I could NEVER do that O.o, I doubt I can get over 25 :/ if THAT)**

**LOVE can also be spelled as REVIEW ;)**

**Like Nike says, just DO IT! :P**


	13. Caught

**Disclaimer- These *moves hands over Naruto characters* ain't mine…but I'm using em since they here already :P**

**A GAZILLION GOLD BARS TO: **InARealPickle, Tunazap, Immortal Fallen Angel, Windschild8178, DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles, shadow. vamp . spirit. wolf (sorry, had to add spaces cuz ff doesn't like ur name for some reason -_-'), VampireNamedRaphael, Aachen, MrsHellman, bluephoenix73, Suave Jiraiya, Gazza the street Yankee, Extreme Kiwi, Kakashi Rocks The World, PhoenixfromtheFlame, RockPopnMetal007, courtney and i love u ;), mochi, NaruKitX3, Hikari-Hikaru-Hikari, IchigoChu, Kuro Neko, and 363** FOR REVIEWING! (Pick your flavor :P)**

**AND A STACK TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY! **

**Special Shout out to: VampireNamedRaphael! I love the extra long review :) especially loved how much u loved the story :D Gives me inspiration ^^  
**

**Well, HELLO EVERYBODY! ^^'''' Honestly, I'm kinda afraid to show my face again after SIX MONTHS (TO THE DAY) OF NOT UPDATING .-. (I think a reviewer called it a few chaps back…maybe he/she jinxed me XD Jk jk) But I figured NEVER finishing this story was worse than goin on Hiatus…right? (Begs for mercy!)**

**I'd like to say I have some REALLY important reason for not updating! …but not really -_-''' To tell you the truth, I give all my extra attention to my bf now, and by doing so I sacrificed my writing. Throw some school, exercising binge, and an addictive website and I've got no update.**

**BUT, I realized I was coming up on SIX MONTHS, and I couldn't just let that pass by! So, I managed my time a little wiser (ie took advantage of the hour/two hours me and my boy spend apart), set myself a "600 words a day" minimum, and here she is :D. All new in black and white print right out of the saved file...I've *sob* never been so pride. Wait, sure I have. .-.  
**

**One last thing: THANK YOU TO ALL YOU READERS! Thank you for reading now even after this long, and hello to new people **** I'm MAJOR glad you're here.**

Chapter 13: Caught

_You talk to me  
as if from a distance  
And I reply  
With impressions chosen from another time, time, time,  
From another time._

~By This River by Brian Eno

Time. A concept many a philosopher hath turned this way and that within their minds, only to have no more knowledge of the idea than when they had started. Mankind has no hold on time, but that has never stopped one from contemplating, marking, and even attempting to inhibit the passage of it. One may even say that mankind will forever to dwell on time. Hinata Hyuuga, however, lived as the exception to the rule.

Sure, at one point time mattered to the girl just as much as a dying man. Even while living her life for another, she managed to spend some time on herself. Every moment with the love of her life (one blonde Naruto Uzumaki, though common knowledge need not be mentioned) was more precious than a million without, and she treasured each moment as if this rang true. As a shinobi, she realized and accepted the fact that she had no guarantee that she would see tomorrow, the same way a civilian had no guarantee of reaching the age of 100, and due to this she cared more about each moment than those of normal lives might.

Those days seemed distant now; time lost in the passage of time. Days might have gone by, perhaps weeks, months. She had no way of knowing, nor did she want to. Hinata had forsaken the future, ignored her present, and lived only for the past, because the past included Naruto.

When she left the Uchiha compound, she'd left with so much hope. That, during its short existence, convinced her that she'd have the ability to survive the brutal sessions with father, retain her sanity confined in cell once called her room, and escape to the sanctuary of her love's presence. The heiress imagined herself escaping in the dark hours of midnight, at the stroke of midnight, right after dusk, then returning under darkness' protection, right before dawn, or just in time for breakfast. As she neared her own compound, her imagination only grew, and along with it her riskiness.

Her dreams didn't last more than fifteen minutes. Hinata had barely got her body through the window when the clearing of a throat startled her from behind. Perhaps had it been a branch member, a lowly guard, she could have convinced them to not speak to her father, however, as luck, or lack of luck, would have it: it was none other than the man she most hated to see. She'd seen her father's fury many a day. From accidents to the incident that lead to her confinement, the Hyuuga thought she knew the entire spectrum of the man's anger. For the first time in her life, however, the man was too angry to speak.

Instead, he grabbed the girl's wrist, hard enough to cause the bones beneath her skin to crack. She winced at the pain, unsure whether they had broken or not, but had no time to focus as her father dragged her out of the room. Hinata struggled to keep up with her father's quick pace; her own legs sabotaging her and threatening to buckle beneath her, which would surely lead to being actually dragged on the floor by her father. When they arrived at the large room often used for sparing and large meetings, Hiashi flung his daughter onto the floor at the center of the room. Already struggling to keep her feet, the action caused the heiress to fall harshly onto the floor. She gasped slightly in pain, though she tried to hold her tongue, when she fell on the arm with the damaged wrist. Cradling the limb, she lifted her head to meet her father's eyes.

Instantly, however, she noticed they weren't the only two in the room. All along the walls sat branch members: shinobi, adults, even children. The children seemed bored, unable to remain seated for even a few moments, and their parents looked just as uncomfortable. Only the trained shinobi could hide their emotions, though one managed to claw its way from behind their façade onto their face: pity. On one side of her father sat the two people she cared most for besides Naruto: Hanabi and Neji. However, they too had masked any feeling. Still, Hinata had no sense of why she sat where she did…until she viewed her father's other side. Several prominent members of the Hyuuga family sat tall and stiffly along the walls behind him as if they were his backbone whom she'd only seen during severe punishments and the placement of the caged bird seal.

Panic flooded through the poor girl, filling her body and coloring her face. She knew this would come eventually. Her entire situation brought this into light. There was simply no way that she could have been perfect in her quest to see Naruto, and perfection was needed in order to succeed. This day would have come eventually, however, realizing that the first was the last saddened her immensely.

Hiashi Hyuuga never lifted his gaze from his daughter. He searched her eyes for the emotions expected. First the confusion, then the realization, soon followed by horror. Guilt should follow, he knew; guilt for her rebellion and her childish actions. She had disgraced their name with foolish actions, and for what? For nothing; for a child worth less than nothing. Her fault had brought him dishonor in front of their clan, and certainly forfeited her title as heiress.

Nevertheless, he did not want to stand where he stood. Despite what he knew everyone thought of him, Hiashi loved his daughter and in no way wanted to hurt her. After every training session, he used all his shinobi skills not to wince at Hinata's pain. After every scolding, he could barely keep himself standing when he saw how his little girl looked at him. After all the bad he knew he'd done to her, he regretted acting as he had.

Nonetheless, the Hyuuga leader could act no differently. He wanted his girl to not only take his place, but act as the best head than any Hyuuga before. As he had no male heir, he knew change had finally come to their family. Hinata could become the first female to lead the family; she could change how the Hyuuga lived. However, Hiashi knew many others would disagree. When they realized there would be no male heir, they decided Hinata must marry. She could barely talk, but already her fate had been decided.

That wasn't what he wanted for his first born. Instead, he trained her and trained her; careful to make her stronger and independent, but never to destroy her sense of right and wrong. At times, Hiashi knew he'd gone too far, acted too cruelly, however, he knew his brutality would only prove to the still impressible girl that the Hyuuga had to change (as he only embodied the Hyuuga way).

All that said, Hinata's escape had ruined this hope, this dream, and she didn't seem to recognize her folly. Soon he would yell at her, strip her of her status, but never would she realize what she'd lost. Still, he needed to see her guilt, her apology to save her from what lay in front of her; what he had promised as her consequence.

The guilt never came. After the terror resided, after the pain of realization faded, Hinata stared at her father with glassy eyes. Though he searched and searched, the only emotion behind the glass lay regret, not for her actions, but for not doing more.

For a moment, Hinata thought she'd seen a hint of emotions in her father's stoic face, however, upon an additional glance, she found none.

"Where have you been?" Hinata continued to stare at her father, attempting to keep an unemotional face while her body continued to shake. "Well?"

She knew she must speak eventually. Her silence would only contribute to her punishment, though she could find no worse outcome than the one she currently faced. Perhaps if she pled for forgiveness she could have a lighter sentence. Nonetheless, she couldn't force herself to speak, both out of rebellion and fear of her father.

"Answer me child."

Déjà vu flooded the girl, her circumstances merely a magnification of the danger, fear, and wonder at her own inability to find some plausible, logical explication for her sneaking out. Truly, she wished she could curl herself in a ball and disappear. Perhaps she was a child, and, like the child that she was, she let her shoulders slump in defeat and thrust her hands in her pockets. To her surprise, she felt an all too familiar object inside one.

"A flower?"

"What was that?" Hinata's head snapped upward at her father's reply. She hadn't realized she had said it aloud and blushed slightly in embarrassment of her speaking to herself. Carefully, she pulled the still fresh flower out of her pocket and stared in awe at the beautiful small vine with purple blossoms and blue petals. The lower looked so familiar but…

"Kudzu¹."

"Excuse me?" She blushed for a second time for once again speaking aloud, but the cogs in her brain began to finally turn.

"I left to search for flowers." The room's tension suddenly broke in confusion.

"You did what?"

"The Kudzu plant," Hinata held up the small flower as she let the words flow from her mouth, "thrives in the southern elemental countries, but it's hard to find it here in the fire country. It's most known for being the perfect hang over cure, but I read in a book that it's also an anti-inflammatory agent that's great for migraines and other headaches as well as allergies. I've always wanted to make a balm out of it…."

And as she said it, she realized she truly had. But how had it appeared in her jacket? She surely didn't remember finding such a rare flower….

"What made you think you could find it?" Hinata returned to reality without a trace of grace, and stared at her father in confusion. "I thought you said it was rare, what made you think today you can find it."

"I—I heard it'd been spotted before I got in trouble! It was what I was looking for the day of…." She left it there; a blush had risen to her face both from her hopefully not obvious lie and her remembrance of that day.

Hiashi could tell his daughter way lying; she'd never been a very good liar. Though he knew not her whereabouts, he knew exactly with who she'd been in company. Nonetheless…

"Very well. You are stripped of your status as heiress," Hinata flinched at his words. "…however, as you were not in the company of one Uzumaki Naruto, your full punishment will not be carried out as the circumstances for said punishment were not fully enacted."

With no more said, the Hyuuga leader then exited the room giving little glance to the others occupying the room, though he certainly felt their eyes upon him, already questioning his actions. Like a crowd disappointed in the show, soon the spectators began to part themselves, some in groups, others one by one.

Hinata, however, didn't budge. Despite the attention she retained from those around her as they slowly left, she couldn't bother to look at them herself. All she could do was stare at the flower in wonder and amazement as the weight of the fate she'd narrowly avoided fell upon her mind. She'd almost had a caged bird seal placed upon her head. Sure, she was still disgraced and humiliated, but saved from the final punishment she could have received. Thanks to the flower in her hand that she couldn't determine how it came into her possession. Eventually, she was returned from her wandering about her memory and thought but a small cough.

"Everyone's left." Hinata blinked her colorless eyes and lifted her head upwards to gaze at her cousin with a glassy expression. "You ought to as well."

She nodded because she knew ought to, though his voice seemed so distant and disconnected from the reality she currently lay in. The male didn't move however until she finally realized that she was indeed the last person, save her cousin, in the room. Surprised by how quickly her situation had changed while she'd floated off, she hastily stuffed the flower in her pants pocket and attempted to push herself up only to hiss in pain. She allowed herself to fall again and clutched her wrist, having forgotten about her injury. Neji sighed.

"I'd say you ought to have that checked out, but I doubt there are any broken bones." His cousin nodded, a blush appearing on her face at her low pain tolerance. She'd been hurt and exhausted many a time, but she still cried out when faced with an injury.

After helping the girl get to her feet, Neji said his farewells and left the room himself. Now completely alone, Hinata couldn't stop herself from reaching into her pocket to retrieve her now precious flower, but when she did, she felt that there was another object inside. Confused, she pulled both out and found it was a piece of scrap paper.

_Hey Hinata-chan, still like flowers? I never cared too much about em myself, but I remember once upon a past life you asking Ino if she'd seen this watchamadoodle. I found this guy before I got locked up, but I never got to give it to ya. I hope it's still ok for whatever you wanted it for, why are flowers so hard to keep alive? Anyway, thanks for still visiting me despite all the trouble I've gotten you in, I'm writing this while you sleep and slipping it in your pocket. Hopefully you don't wash it! I did that once…Well, maybe I'll see you again, but don't risk it ok? I can handle things myself, BELIEVE IT! –Naruto_

Hinata smiled at the note, but her hands started to shake and soon the letter became a blur as tears welled up in her eyes. Now that she could stop worrying about the seal, she realized that escaping would be impossible after today. Her father certainly would raise all the security and give her little free time to make such an escape. And say Naruto never fully recovered or her father extended her punishment? There was a high chance she'd never get the chance to thank Naruto for saving her. There was a good chance she'd never be able to spend time with her true love again.

Swallowing the sob that clogged her throat, Hinata carefully folded up the note, placed it back into her pocket, and walked forward.

TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: TT-TT :(( ;_; ,^^, D: ;)

Dinner carried on as any other meal did; under constant scrutiny and in silence. Hinata had finished yet another brutal training session, session x since last having seen Naruto. The girl hadn't bothered counting the actual number; she hadn't tried to mark the passing days. Not even the meals became distinguishable from one another, save the proportions given at each. In fact, the only reason she knew she must be eating supper was by the slowly setting sun out the window directly across from her, but even with the star's aid, she could never guess the time.

Yes, life passed in a blur now. Her meager excuse for a life kept her busy enough, and, often, she didn't even have the time or the energy to think of…other, better things. While she answered questions and reacted to contact she did so purely based on instincts of a past life rather than giving an actual thought to her response. Hinata kept her attention on the task at hand, and, when free, focused on the pain, the ache, that constantly stayed in her body.

For instance, now she thought of how little food seemed to fill her now. All food seemed to bypass the stomach and become digested for energy and storage due to her high exercise routine. As handy as this process may be for her body, it left a dull sense of emptiness in her stomach that never left.

Hinata had become a close friend with pain, however. In fact, after dinner, she had a good hour of lying on her bed as pain oozed from every pore before she finally could fall asleep. Surely, this was not how her father intended her to spend her hour "just for you," but, again, she preferred this way over any alternatives. Today, she could tell, would be extra painful. Though her training had been no more grueling, her actions taxed her body extra so. Perhaps she could fall asleep earlier…

To all the room's surprise, a knock interrupted the silence of their dinner. Neji, the only non-head family member at the supper gave a short nod of apology before rising to answer the door. Though he was no servant, as a branch member it was expected of him to answer if no other branch member did so, and so he did. Moments later he returned, however, he was not alone.

"Hyuuga-sama." The ANBU bowed slightly, greeting the head of the clan. Hiashi stood without answering back and led the masked man from the room to speak in private. As soon as he left, Neji smirked and walked over to Hinata.

"Who do you think would win? An ANBU with orders from the Hokage-sama, or Hiashi-sama?" Neji asked his younger cousin coolly. Hinata, who was not used to being spoken to as of late, seemed confused by the male's question and unsure whether it was her place to answer. Luckily she did not have to, because the yelling started then.

Hearing a one-sided yelling match often reminds one of listening to a peer talk on the phone. While he or she only has one side of the conversation…it's not very difficult to figure out what the other is saying. The only difference between the two is it's easier to hear what the one is saying when they're speaking so loudly.

"I told you we refuse! …Yes, you can have the boy, but my daughter's not available. …She's off active duty! …No, she is not necessary for this mission. …Use another Hyuuga, she will not go! …No, I'm going to talk to Tsunade-sama myself!"

With that, both men returned; Hiashi with a slightly redder face, and the ANBU with a seemingly smugger confidence.

"Tsunade-sama has called for both Hyuuga Neji's and Hyuuga Hinata's assistance in a search and retrieve mission of utmost importance. Your presence is needed now." Neji nodded and lifted a still confused Hinata from her chair.

"Se-arch?" The ANBU nodded, though it felt as if he did so more kindly, as if he could tell she was not quite whole.

"Yes, for Uzumaki Naruto." At that, Hinata was up and out the door in seconds.

:D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :D :) ^^ :)) :3 ^u^ :-D

The ANBU didn't speak to the two shinobi until they were at Konoha's entrance, and only then did he pull the two to the shadows to talk.

"Uzumaki Naruto has been marked as being unstable and being a hazard to himself. It's crucial that he be found as soon as possible, and, when found, taken to the nearest hospital. You may confirm you have found him AFTER you secure his health. He may or may not need medical care, but Tsunade-sama stressed that he be taken there where she will be waiting for him, do I make myself clear?" The two nodded.

"Neji-san, we have searched the city to no avail, but we want to be sure and wish that you use the byakugan to make one final sweep as you pass through where you will then aide in searching the South forest. Hinata you will head North of Konoha, where he was last seen in a clearing that Uchiha Sasuke says you know of. We want you to search any other locations you may have seen him at; we believe that you probably know more of his past frequents than anyone else and your knowledge is key." Hinata's eyes grew slightly at the prospect of being needed, but nodded as if she was not surprised.

"All available shinobi in the village are searching the woods all around, some going almost to the border of the fire country. It's necessary that we find him quickly or we'll have no choice but to pull back as we don't wish to keep our village without shinobi for so long. Now, move out!"

At that, each of them took off in separate directions, though Hinata had only an inkling of where to search. The girl racked her brain for old clearings he used to train at during his childhood, but she had blocked out all thoughts of Naruto for so long…What's more, the rush of adrenaline that had flooded though her when she found out they would be looking for Naruto had begun to wear off, and she could feel the weight of her sore body already resurfacing. She turned to look at the sky line and saw that the first rays of sun were already falling under the horizon. Once it got dark, finding Naruto would be almost impossible, even with the byakugan.

O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C O: :0 :( :C T:

As the last rays of sun began to fade, Hinata had no energy left. After the first two stops, she could no longer use the Byakugan, and by the last she had to stop running. Now, she had returned to the last place she thought he would be, but the only other place she knew him to train; the clearing where he was last seen. The moment she had walked through the clearing and not seen Naruto, she found a tree hidden with shadows and let herself fall against it.

There was simply no way she'd be able to make it home in this condition. As a matter of fact, now that she had sat, she doubted she could stand again without help. She'd simply have to wait for her body to regain some of its energy before she could return; however, the night that had already begun to swallow the forest gave her little comfort. Hinata sighed, softly hitting her head against the tree. Perhaps it was foolish, being afraid of the dark, but she'd grown up knowing there were worse things than monster that hid in the shadows. Creatures of the night and thieves didn't even compare to the thought of enemy shinobi or spies. In this condition, she doubted she could hold her own against a genin if a fight came about. But even that wasn't really on her mind. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was always afraid of horror stories and sitting in a clearing as the woods got dark seemed like the perfect setting for a maniac to jump out and slice her up.

Yup, she could picture it now. No one would hear her cries. Blood would drip from the trees. Or worse, some corpse would fall from the sky. And as she said it, she saw a figure fall from the canopy of leaves into the clearing and both her scream and the body's thud went unheard by the world.

:O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O :O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O :O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O :O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O :O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O :O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O :O O.O o_o 0-0 O.o o.O -_-

The woods had always given Naruto refuge; it had always provided him with a sanctuary that few could knock down its doors to drag him from his peace. No, no one knew the forests like the Kyuubi's container did. Every clearing within a few miles of Konoha, every misshapen tree, every missing branch; he knew of them. He could jump though the trees blindfolded and with both hands tied behind his back. In fact, he had once on a whim and in a fit of extreme boredom.

Of course, navigating stealthily becomes much harder when you're bleeding. Even when the blonde could wipe away the blood before it dripped onto any surfaces, he knew the open wound would make his scent extra potent and easier to track. If any of the Inuzuka or Kakashi was sent on his trail, they'd catch him before he could swear.

Still, Naruto managed. He'd travel to one clearing, retrace his steps, go in an opposite directions, stop, retrace them again, then turn a new way, and so on, and so on. After about 12 different routes, he stopped counting, though he didn't stop moving. By the time the sun was midway set, the teen had become far too exhausted to continue. Finally, he retraced his paths until he stopped at the one place he was almost certain no one would search in a while: the clearing he'd been caught in.

Okay, a somewhat risky move, but Uzumaki had a strong intuition that, once they had checked to make sure Naruto hadn't returned to the spot at the begging of the search, no shinobi would stay to make sure he never did. With so much area to cover, leaving a man behind to watch over the clearing made no sense, and the blonde depended on this fact as he made his way back.

Sure enough, no one was there when he arrived. With a relieved sigh, the boy let himself plop down on the branch on which he'd been standing and leaned against the tree's trunk. Naruto had lost quite a few ounces of blood by now; his constant running had kept the blood flowing enough that the wound didn't heal as quickly as it ought. To his surprise, the Kyuubi hadn't bothered to heal it either, perhaps hoping the blood loss would slow him down enough to get him caught. The teen ignored all the effects that came from blood loss as he ran, but now that he'd finally stopped every one swallowed him. The fatigue, of course, was incapacitating, making him glad that he'd at least been able to find a safe place to stop. His heart rate, already beating fast from the body exertion, speed to an alarming rate that made the blonde's chest ache. No matter how much air he gulped into his lungs, he couldn't quite get enough.

Then, finally, the dizziness appeared. Oh how he hated the dizziness. The sun, of which only its final rays remained in sight, blurred against the shadows of the night which surrounded it. Leaves on branches seemed to blend into the branches themselves. Actually, between the darkness that now loomed among the branches and his fuzzy vision, Naruto couldn't see whatever was directly in front of him.

Erg, what he wouldn't give to have a nice bed to lie on. If he didn't know he'd never see the light of day again if he did, Naruto would probably check himself into the hospital on a voluntary basis. He could almost feel the mattress under him; he could imagine himself propped into his sitting position by pillows instead of rough bark. Then, he could just slowly…happily…let himself drift…away…from…the…world….

d^^b ~^^~ ^=^ ^_^ ^-^ d^^b ~^^~ ^=^ ^_^ ^-^ d^^b ~^^~ ^=^ ^_^ ^-^ d^^b ~^^~ ^=^ ^_^ ^-^ d^^b ~^^~ ^=^ ^_^ ^-^d^^b ~^^~ ^=^ ^_^ ^-^ ^^'''''

Vaguely, very vaguely might he add, did he remember hearing a scream? Who was he kidding; Naruto didn't realize Hinata had been in the clearing until she was calling his name from somewhere above him. If the boy was being truthful now, he'd also add that his first though was not: "oh no I'm caught," or "Hinata? What's she doing here?" but "wow, this tree is much softer than I remember."

After letting his memory return and accessing his surroundings behind closed eyes, he realized what must have happened and even blushed slightly at the thought. Naruto…had just fallen from a tree…in front of a perfectly nice girl…while "supposedly" hiding. Lovely.

Begrudgingly, the ego-wounded teen opened his eyes and smiled, more that slightly embarrassed. As soon as he did, he was struck by how light the clearing was under a now rising moon despite how dark it seemed to grow earlier and that Hinata was upside down.

"Hey Hinata-chan." The upside-down girl (Naruto now realized his head was in her lap) visibly relaxed and she put her hand to her chest over her heart as if attempting to slow its fast rate.

"Naruto-kun, you're ok." Quickly, perhaps too quickly, said boy sat up from his caretakers lap and swooned slightly at the lightheadedness that accompanied the action.

"Of course!" He said after the swirling world stilled. "A ten foot fall? That's like nothing! It's smaller than nothing."

Even as the blonde said it, though, he could feel a large bruise forming on his back while the Kyuubi's chakra took care of the other, more serious, injuries throughout his body. Not that he really cared; what's a couple more injuries when your whole life's a pain right? Too bad he didn't fall from higher…

"Demo, Naruto-kun…"

"Ah don't worry bout me, but what are YOU doing out here?" Red conquered the Hyuuga's face, as she lowered her head and whispered unintelligibly. "What was that?"

"I—I was looking for you Naruto-kun."

Instantly, he knew what she meant. The way she wouldn't look at him and the shame in her voice told him everything; she was here to take him away. For a moment, uncontrollable anger rushed through him at this new betrayal, but it faded as instantaneously as it came. To blame her was futile and he doubted he could bring himself to blame her even if it was purely her fault. If one of the two in the clearing needed to take the blame, it ought to be him after all.

An uncomfortable silence filled the expanse after that. Not because neither had nothing to say, but because neither knew the appropriate thing to say. In actuality, Naruto had PLEANTY he wanted to say. The last time he'd seen her felt like eons ago, and though he knew he shouldn't have, he'd always hoped she'd turn up soon. He felt so comfortable talking to Hinata. She neither judged nor forced him to do what he didn't wanted, while still pushing him to do what he felt was right. To him, she felt like a third party and on bad days at the Uchiha house he'd think of rants he could tell her when she appeared and he knew she'd help straighten his jumble of thoughts out.

As much as he wanted to say all those talks he had planned out for them to have…Naruto couldn't get them out. Though she lay in front of him, so close to he could reach out and touch her, she'd never felt so distant. He'd like to say it was because now he knew she was working with _them_ and therefore was out to get him like the rest of the world, but, again, he knew she wasn't. In truth, he didn't know why, but he knew none of those old conversations felt right. Eventually, the normally loud boy coughed softly.

"Uh, are you gonna, uh, turn me in? I dunno what your orders were, but aren't I under arrest or something?" Hinata blushed.

"I'm—I'm supp-posed to—to take you back." Another silence followed.

"Okay…and are you going to do so?" Hinata's blush grew.

"I—I'm too exhausted to go back."

At that Naruto laughed, not a chuckle, not smugly, but a whole hearted, slightly hysterical laugh. In fact, he couldn't stop laughing for a bit, the irony of the whole situation not being lost on the boy. Here he was, caught, but too exhausted to run away, and here was his captor, mission complete, but too exhausted to turn him in.² Naruto didn't know whether the girl understood the irony, or if the other teen was just being kind, or even if his laugh was just that infectious, but after a moment of laughing on his own, Hinata began to giggle herself. The blonde smiled.

"I like your laugh." He then laughed as the girl's blush, which had only retreated moments earlier, returned full throttle. "You sure do blush a lot. So where have you been lately? I haven't seen you since the day you spent the night…"

As soon as the male had asked, he knew the answer. Hinata didn't even blush when he said she'd spent the night; in fact, the exact opposite. All the color left from her face leaving the girl sickly pale, and she immediately lowered her gaze. Horror flooded through him, and, without thinking, reached across the air between them, lifted the other teen's dark hair, and squinted his blue orbs as he searched her forehead. As soon as he realized her skin was clear, he let out a breath of release. The Hyuuga lifted her eyes to meet Naruto's, confusion as clear in her eyes as relief showed in his.

"You—you knew?" The Kyuubi container smiled sadly.

"Yeah, Neji kinda told me a while back. …I've been thinking bout you a lot. Wondering if you didn't come because you'd actually listened to me or if you'd been caught…or if you'd finally realized sneaking out for me wasn't worth it."

"No!" Hinata blushed, but Naruto grinned.

"Danngg Hinata, for a quiet girl, you can be loud when you want." The girl's blush grew in size and intensity, and the other teen couldn't help but laugh. "Making you blush is so easy, where's the challenge?"

A silence followed, and the male, just now realizing he still had his hand on Hinata's forehead keeping her hair out of the way, jerked his hand away a little too quickly. Naruto hissed in pain as he hit his wounded arm against his body. Slowly, as if she was afraid of him, Hinata reached for his arm. The blonde boy watched her with no emotions in his eyes, but several surging through him. When she finally reached it, they Hyuuga slowly pulled the limb towards her and rolled up the boy's sleeve.

The cut had stopped bleeding, but the blood that hadn't dripped away had dried over the wound leaving a blotchy dark scab. Just as slowly, Hinata dragged her soft finger over the crust, only pausing when Naruto reflexively twitched at its sensitivity. Then, as unexpectedly as her movements were, the girl dropped his arm and pulled her own to lie in her lap. Cerulean eyes stared at her. Having watched every movement, the blonde knew exactly what she wanted to ask.

"Jiraiya's dead." Hinata's eyes snapped up to stare at him, but Naruto could no longer look at her. "I—He said he'd be getting updates and—I was angry."

The boy lifted his gaze to stare into his companion's eyes, his blue orbs filled with so many mixed emotions even he couldn't be sure of how he felt exactly.

"I was angry that he was leaving me while I was stuck in," he waved his arm about, "all this. I—I couldn't stand the idea of being…_alone_. I know, I know, I got myself into this trouble, but…. Am I really that selfish?" Naruto looked up at the trees, and they were silent for a second.

"Everyone always seemed…so selfish to me. Asking for more when they had things I only dreamed of. And everything fell apart so fast…like someone had set up an ambush, and, even though I could feel it coming, I couldn't stop it. I—I never let myself think that there was anyone else to help me, I always told myself that you could only rely on yourself, and, heck, that's probably help keep me alive…maybe? I don't know really. Could've made things worse for all I know, but…my time with Jiraiya was probably the happiest times of my entire life." Naruto half choked on a laugh.

"Gosh, I must sound so corny or whiny. I hate it when people talk like that, yet here I am. Maybe the blood loss is making it hard for me to think straight."

Hinata shook her head rapidly making the blonde smile. But instantly it fell away. Suddenly, Naruto tried, and, on his second attempt, succeeded, to stand, though his legs shook violently beneath his weight.

"I can't stop thinking about him." The boy ground out through clenched teeth. "I can't _stand_ thinking about him."

From the corner of his eye, Naruto could see that his actions had frightened Hinata, but her expression only reminded him of the nightmare he kept having…

"What are you scared of me? HUH? Of _course_ you are. Isn't everyone nowadays? Everybody's always scared, angry, or annoyed with me, is that all I am to you people? A vehicle for those stupid emotions you can't vent to anyone else or they'd actually react back? Anyone else would defend themselves, but I guess I'm not worth defending right? That's what I always figured: I'm not WORTH anything more. Well, guess what, forget what I'm worth! If everyone else can be selfish, then I want to be too!"

He could tell all his words were just scaring and hurting Hinata more; he could see tears start to well up in her eyes. What remained of the boy's practical, self-preserving side screamed at him to run while he could. He didn't know where to or how far he could make it on what little energy he had, but staying with Hinata greatly reduced his chances of avoiding capture. Someone would come looking for her soon, and when they did, the blonde couldn't be found as well.

…Yet, he couldn't leave. He wanted to reason that he couldn't leave a weak, innocent girl alone in the middle of the forest this late at night, especially when she was on the verge of tears, but, if he was being truthful to himself, he knew he just couldn't keep running. He didn't want to keep going.

As if sensing his internal surrender or more likely seeing him in a position to make a break for it, several ANBU appeared and called for him to stay where he was. With a sigh, Naruto stumbled backwards until his back hit nearby tree and slid down to sit.

"Hey Hinata?" The blonde looked up to stare at the pale eyed girl as she gave a little start in surprise. "I can't keep doing this can I?"

"Nar—Naruto-kun?" Said boy smiled at her sadly.

"I can't live like this can I?"

Uzumaki Naruto never got his answer. The two of the close at hand ANBU dragged him to his feet and led him from the clearing roughly, but it didn't really matter that they had. Naruto didn't even look back.

¹ I know NOTHING of plants! Seriously, it took me like 45 mins of googling to find a medicinal plant that's semi rare, so just bare with me 

² ha ha, there's so many comma's there I have a bad feeling I used them wrong….but I love them so much T-T They're my favorite symbol besides the ~!

**DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!**

**Lol, well I hope this chap was FAWESOME (especially after such a long break) but I have a feeling some people aren't gonna be happy with me still XD It's not my longest chap, but it one of my top 3 :D and NO there is no wasteful chaps (someone said that last chap) because the author has a plan *mini light bulb flickering overhead***

**And for y'all who felt Hinata disappeared, SHE DIDN'T ' This was HER chap, so u get to what's been up with that girlie (sadly, nothing good, but it takes soooo long to write her, so last time I had saved her for this chap…it just took 6 months to get out ****) and also, build up to next chap which WILL be the CLIMAX.**

**That being said, depending on how long I need, there will prob be about 3-4 more chaps (INCLUDING alternate endings)! Thanks to all those who helped me decide, but the hiatus shed a lot of light on how much more there is to write (or more how much more **_**I **_**can write ^^'). So yes, YBS is coming to a close…**

**GOOD NEWS THOUGH: I will NOT let my next chap be in 6 months :P School starts week after next, but I SWEAR I'll manage my time better and get out an update As Soon As Possible!**

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	14. Release

**Disclaimer- The following message is an emergency broadcast. VGC has no rights to Naruto and she should be compensated for anyone thinking otherwise. Think how much money she could be earning if it actually was hers.**

**NEW YEARS NEW FOUND GLORY TO: Tunazap, YGOGenerations4ever, Narutopokefan, Jessenia-chan, Consciously Comatose, The Only Love For Soujiro Seta, DreamingOfFraud, ks, DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles, RockPopnMetal007, Immortal Fallen Angel, Hdi, ouy evol I (you spelled it wrong ;P AND you pressed the submit twice ^^), InARealPickle, Crowfether, SkittleYentl, jolteonforever, LalaLand, IchigoChu, sweetXsunshine, beloveddaughteroftheking, Heart'sRose, GaaNaru Lurver, and narutoninjaXD FOR REVIEWING! **

**I'm MEGA happy with all the long reviews! You guys spoil me so much **** Oh and LalaLand? I love incessant rambling, you kept me so thoroughly entertained I almost go caught checking my email at school ;)**

**ALSO MANY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY! **

**Howdy there partners! **

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! (In case you didn't realize it was…)**

**Soy yo, VampireGaaraCheesepuffs and I have arisen from the dead =D. Ok not really. But I KEPT MY PROMISE :D it's only been…like four months since my last update ^^''' (it doesn't sound as nice when I actually write it out…). Anyway, life has been busy (life? What life?) what with school and such BUT here she is! AN UPDATE. *Sniff* I'm…so happy! Anyway, I figured what better way to start 2011 than with a new chap :) one of my resolutions is to FINISH THIS STORY ALREADY -_-''' I can't put it off =-=!**

**Well, I hope you ENJOY! THE FINAL CHAPTER BEFORE THE ALTERNATE ENDINGS :D**

Chapter 14: Release

_My tears run down like razorblades  
And no, I'm not the one to blame  
It's you ' or is it me?  
And all the words we never say  
Come out and now we're all ashamed  
And there's no sense in playing games  
When you've done all you can do_

~It's Not Over by SecondHand Serenade

All Sasuke Uchiha wanted to do was swear. He wanted to stop and scream every foul word he knew and perhaps create a few as well. Instead, the teen kept running, kept searching, but all he wanted to do was stop and swear.

The raven haired boy couldn't stop the images from in his mind as if he watched a silent film. As the scenes he had witnessed in that forest clearing earlier played _over_ and _over_ again, he could feel them begin to warp within his skull. Scenes became blurry as if his memory began to decay and his thoughts jumped from moments to moments, eventually skipping minutes' worth of memories. Sasuke forced himself to keep moving; forced himself to focus on the feel of the shingled roof on which he ran, on the faces of every person he passed, but all he could see was the memories.

Everything was too clear now. The blonde's body across the clearing, his shoulders rising and dropping with his sobs. In a flash, the same scene appeared, but this time under a lens so that all Sasuke could see was the red puddle in which the boy sat. Suddenly, the Uchiha had Naruto's wrist in his grasp, but all he could see was pain filled cerulean eyes… and then they eyes went completely blank...

He still couldn't find him, but the teen kept running, kept searching, until finally he stopped upon the hospital roof and swore. Forget the Uchiha way of remaining calm, cool, and collected at every moment of every day, Sasuke paced, swore, and clawed at his head for a full ten minutes before he became exhausted. Below he could see citizens glancing up at his figure in confusion and surprise, though he could tell they neither understood nor recognized him. The shinobi on the other hand…

Eventually Sasuke allowed himself to fall against the water tower and close his eyes. To his surprise, all the sharingan wielder saw was black. No more memories, no more horrific images, just darkness. For a moment, he was about to smile.

_"I can't be an empty shell. I can't go through the motions just to get through a day. I can't live without feeling _something_."_

His eyelids snapped open, but no images returned. The Uchiha swore again as he closed his eyes and beat his head against the metal tower. Perhaps Naruto really was right; he was empty, a shell. The teen searched for the painful memories that had haunted him for the last hour or so, but it was gone. Worse yet, so disappeared the fear, the regret, and the ache. The sky had gotten dark by now, the moonlight bright on the horizon. His head felt the chill of the metal on which he leaned, reminding him of the reason for the tower's replacement in the first place. He had been so angry with his best friend because of his own dissatisfaction with himself.

Then he remembered fighting him at the Valley of the End. He remembered seeing Naruto for the first time since their battle in one of Orochimaru's lairs. He remembered feeling awkward standing next to Itachi as team 7 plus Sai walked into Tsunade's office when he first came back, how his heart momentarily stopping when he saw that cut on Naruto's wrist that night at his apartment, and that insurmountable anger towards that drunkard who allowed Naruto to get away. Actually, he still wanted to kill that guy for letting Naruto sneak away.

The image of Sasuke standing in the clearing as Naruto walked off, blood dripped down his arms popped into his mind and he swore again. No, he could feel all right. The guilt and self-loathing had only given him a moment of relief. How could he have let the blonde go? How could he have just _stood there_! How could he have been so stupid? It took the teen all of five minutes to realize that Naruto was not going to live very long if he wasn't found. Tsunade had been about to rip off his head when he told her that he had just let him go. Luckily, Naruto's safety was much more important than his own demise. Not that he would care if she tortured him for what he did. If Naruto was never found or dead because of his inanityˡ he would probably do the same himself…

"I can walk. I can wa-lk. I can WALK idiots!"

Sasuke pushed himself off the water tower and sprang towards the hospital's edge. Sure enough, the one and only blonde dobe himself stood below, only feet away from the hospital door. Like the Uzumaki, the Uchiha used to know, the blue eyed shinobi was struggling with his ANBU guards. They had the teen surrounded, but he didn't seem to care. Apparently, they had half carried him most of the way and now that they were close, Naruto was adamant on entering without escorts. Despite the situation, the whole scene almost made Sasuke smile. Almost. Quickly, the dark haired teen made his way to the staircase so he could meet his friend face to face…and this time he wouldn't back out.

*/* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~` */* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~` */* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~` */* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~`*/* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~` */* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~` */* : ) ( ; :^)- -(^: +=+ %] ~_~`

After many, many failed attempts including getting yelled out of several rooms and walking in on awkward moments (including a sponge bath of a 70 year old man), Sasuke finally found the right room. By now, Naruto's wounds had been wrapped and he was currently strapped to the bed with large leather belts.² Not being able to look at the blonde, he turned to study Tsunade who had been yelling since before he entered the room. The woman was absolutely livid. Several long strands of her pure blonde hair had fallen out of her low ponytail and hung about her face. Her face was blushed from too much alcohol, but she looked as if she were bolted to the floor. Across the room, he spotted Shizune, looking worse for wear, with her faithful Ton-Ton in hand. She too noticed his presence and a flash of surprise entered her eyes, but she quickly put a finger to her lips. He got the message.

"—how many men we had to send out looking for you? If the village was attacked by a ferret we probably couldn't have defeated it with the lack of defense we had!"

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden to you." The captured boy whispered.

Somewhat begrudgingly, Sasuke turned back to the blonde and he almost gagged. He couldn't tell from the roof how terrible Naruto really was, but now he could see everything. The sickly paleness of Naruto's skin, his hair was disheveled and full of leaves. A large purple and blue bruise was creeping up the side of his neck that the Uchiha knew hadn't been there when he last saw him. The bandages on his arms, though obviously new, still had a couple spots of red. Slowly, onyx eyes made their way to azure eyes and, thankfully, the latter did not stare back because Sasuke doubted he could stand seeing that pain staring at him again.

"You know that's not what I meant." Tsunade snapped, but it sound as if her anger had given away to guilt. "I sent all those men because _we_ all care about you. _We _needed to know that you were alive and ok."

"But I'm not." Everyone in the room save Naruto stiffened. "If you were kind you'd just kill me."

"Don't say that!"

"Why not!" Everyone jumped at his suddenly loud voice. "And don't tell me it's because you care, if you cared you'd let me do what I wanted."

"Please Naruto," Tsunade's voice was now the soft one. "This is only temporary, you'll get better and regret wanting—"

"I've wanted to die for years, almost as long as I can remember, so I don't think it's quite 'temporary'." Tsunade's mouth snapped shut.

"But Naruto-kun!" Shizune argued.

"But what? It's true. I used to dream of never waking up and then be disappointed when I did. When I cut I always imagined just stabbing myself all over my body, but never had the courage." Naruto's voice became a whisper as he let his chin fall to his chest. "I was never afraid of the pain either. Or of what people would think of me."

Suddenly, Naruto looked up, straight at Sasuke, his eyes shining with pain and confusion so that he looked like a child. Beside him, Sasuke could sense Tsunade become startled by his presence once she'd followed Naruto's stare but Sasuke could care less.

"While we were still in the Academy, before I knew the Kyuubi existed, I finally decided I deserved it." Naruto choked on the words, as if they burned his throat, and the other three members could feel the pain attached to each word.

"If _everyone _hated me I had to deserve it, right? Soon I began to hate myself. I loathed myself. Every beating I got, I silently cheered for them. Every robbery, I would tell myself, 'You had too many nice things.' I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror because I knew I was nothing but a two-faced liar day in and day out. Some days it felt impossible to act so happy, so I'd skip class and play pranks. I figured I ought to create ways for people to hate me because at least then I knew why…."

"When I did learn about the Kyuubi, I felt a bit better about myself…for a little while. The thoughts never go away though. They're always right beneath the surface slowly picking away at you, bit by bit, day after day. After all, I was a loud-mouth, a failure, a _dobe_." Naruto grinned disturbingly, his eyes never leaving Sasuke's.

"And every night I'd come home and tell myself, 'it's all an act' or 'they hate the Kyuubi not you' but you can only hear things so many times. Soon your words are the ones that sound fake and surreal. Then, right about the time it became really hard to believe anything I said, I lost you." Sasuke stiffened and Naruto's deranged grin grew.

"I was the last person in your way, I had _promised _to bring you back, and I failed. Things became impossible by then. Now I really _should_ hate myself. I really _did_ deserve all the hatred because I had failed _big_ time by losing you and I never could get you back. I got stronger and stronger, and you came back on your own leaving me with a hole I could never fill."

"I cut because I'd failed." Naruto whispered, changing in an instant. The smile fell away and he tilted his eyes to the ground. "I found lots of other things I liked about it later; the control, the adrenaline rush, even the pain, but I started and only did it when I realized I needed to be punished. Most of the time I didn't know for what exactly, but I knew deserved to be punished…." Then the twisted smile began to return and the blue eyes locked on Sasuke's onyx ones once more.

"So tell me, Sasuke-_kun_, since you took away my punishment. Do I not deserve this pain? Do I not deserve the hatred, the beatings, the robberies, the name calling, and being walked all over day and night as I live a lie so I can be who all of you wanted, to please everyone else even though I suffer non-stop because of it, do I not deserve that?" Sasuke couldn't speak. "Well!"

"No."

"What was that?"

"NO! You don't! You never did!"

And just like that the smile fell away again. There was no more confusion. There was no mocking tone to his voice when he spoke again. There was only pain, pure pain as he shakily asked, "Then why do I have to live?"

Sasuke was lost. It was if he was running through a maze, searching for the one route that would lead him to Naruto, to save Naruto…but all he found were dead ends.

"What about your dream? What about becoming Hokage?" The onyx eyed teen asked pitifully. The blonde answered back with a weak smile.

"You said so yourself. Everyone would rather watch the village burn then let me rule." Sasuke winced.

"That's not true Naruto, I was just mad—"

"Right, you were mad. That makes it ok to constantly make me feel inferior. And Sakura gets annoyed so that makes it ok to hit me and just ignore whatever I've just said. And everyone else assumes I'm an idiot so it's alright to just come and go from my life as they see fit."

"That's not—"

"Oh it's not is it? Bet you never noticed before, did you? No one _really_ notices much in my case. But don't worry, I rarely blame you. Only on those rare moments when I feel good about myself, but that's not often at all." Naruto chuckled for a moment and averted his eyes to start at the bandage on his wrist.

"I spent all of my life trying to get someone to care about me. Someone _I_ could come to when I couldn't stand myself who would say I'm great. Actually, they didn't need to say anything just be _there_. Every day I waited for someone to look at me and say, 'What's wrong?' And when I'd say I'm great, they would call me a liar. Every day I did everything I could for everyone else. I made you smile, made you laugh, let you rant, let you vent. Every day I gave whatever I could whether I had the strength to give it to you guys or not."

Finally, Naruto lifted his head once more and stared at Sasuke, though it looked like it took all the effort he could muster.

"I never did get what I wanted. No one called me on my bluff. I let everyone be selfish, please let me be." Sasuke didn't react, but his best friend could still see what his answer was and choked on his next word. "Why?"

"Because things will be better." Sasuke said slowly. Naruto laughed without humor and Sasuke could see tears welling up in his eyes.

"Things never get better!"

"I'll be better." Naruto blinked. "I did notice Naruto. There were days where I could tell something was wrong, but you're right. I was selfish. I figured you'd deal with your own problems and that mine were far more important." The blue-eyed boy looked wounded at his words, so he continued hastily.

"But I'll change Naruto; I'll do better by you. Tsunade will be better, Team 7 will be better; anyone who knows you would be willing to be better. We've used you, abused you, and taken advantage of you, but we'd all be more than willing to pay back the favor. We're all here for you Naruto."

"But why?" It took all the effort Sasuke had, but he somehow managed to give his signature smirk.

"What about us caring for you don't you understand _dobe_?"

Everyone in the room stared at Naruto for a second, the last wrong hanging in the air as if a piano hung on a rope above them, threatening to crash down and kill them all. For a second, it seemed that perhaps the blonde hadn't heard him and as the seconds passed on, Sasuke began to wish that were the case. It was a big gamble to call him that, but he had hoped….

"Teme."

The Uchiha almost fell over in relief, but he did something even stranger. He genuinely smiled for the first time in a very, _very_ long time.

"Oi! What are you smiling for!

O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-' O.O 8O o.o P.P D-D B0 -_-'

In order to survive in the Hyuuga household where a young heiress faces large amounts of pressure and expectations as well as limitations and the punishments that often follow the breaking of such limitations, Hinata had adapting a peculiar habit at an extremely young age; shutting down. A handful of occasions have caused the girl to completely shut down and in turn faint due to the overwhelming stimuli that put her in crisis (more often than not due to one Uzumaki Naruto, as it seemed the majority Hinata's most emphasizing moments occurred because of the very same). However, commonly the term "shutting down" meant that the girl merely subconsciously removed herself from the situation at hand and she would become lost in her own thoughts. Simply put; she zoned out and no one could bring her back to reality. On one such occasion her cousin, Neji, actually needed to flick the girl's temporal region³ in order to successfully bring her to attention in order for him to finish doling out her father's commands.

After hearing her love's final words and the unspoken significance behind them, her mind became far too addictive to receive any additional information from the outside world. So as her first and only love restrained and led not very kindly out of the clearing, she became less and less aware of her surroundings until all she could register was the oppressing and nauseating sound of her own heartbeat in resonating in her ear due to her heart's location in her throat. Soon enough though, something more sinister began to take over the Hyuuga.

"_I'm not worth getting in trouble over."_ She heard the blonde whisper or perhaps say from a distance.

"_I'm not WORTH anything more. Well, guess what, forget what I'm worth!"_ She wanted to reply, but she had no say in her own mind.

"_I'm sick of people asking me that! I'm _sick _of them giving me that _look_!" _His voice was growing louder, and if she shut her eyes, she could picture him completely standing in front of her.

"_If everyone else can be selfish, then I want to be too!"_

Then could feel a hand on her shoulder, pressing down on her. She could feel him lean in closer to her ear. She could practically in vision him doing so though her eyes remained clothes, and as he opened his lips to whisper, she could feel his breath.

"_And what I want is to kill myself."_

NO!

Now despite the emotionally turmoil the young Hyuuga currently experienced, in reality, she had not moved any part of her body expect to close her eyes. After the Kyuubi container had been restrained, one of the ANBU who had appeared walked over to the teen to question her about her own physical well-being. When she neither replied nor reacted, he then put his hand on her shoulder and asked once more. Suddenly, the girl's blank eyes shot open, startling the man despite his training, but, to his surprise, still did not seem to recognize his presence. The man, sensing that she was not in her right mind, picked Hinata up off the ground in a bridal like hold. Then he too left the clearing, following the trail of his comrades that had left just minutes before towards the hospital. Yet she still never reacted….

(-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (I love making new smilies) (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[ (-)_(-) *o* U-U %- S[

When the girl woke up, for nurses had given put her under when they assumed she was under a self-induced catatonic state, she nearly fell from the uncomfortable hospital bed in shock. While she did not fall, she did tangle herself within the flimsy sheets in her confusion, which only served to create fear, as she believed she had been restrained. Slowly yet surely, she allowed herself to calm down enough for her to realize that she had not been kidnapped, but brought to the hospital. The girl laughed at her overreaction, but still gave a little squeak and jumped when the door suddenly opened.

The woman at the door smiled slightly, though any real emotion and Hinata blushed violently. Of all the residents of Konoha to squeak in front of, the young Hyuuga had squeaked in front of her village's leader. Hinata could count on a single hand the number of interactions she had had with Tsunade outside of the Hokage's tower, which meant that every occasion they did meet outside of her workplace was extremely important, as she needed to make a good impression. Squeaking? Not particularly a good impression, not at all.

"Ah, it's good that you've woken up. I probably should have knocked before I entered so I wouldn't have startled you, but I thought you would still be asleep for a few more minutes."

Hinata blushed and shook her head, though she was unaware as to why. Perhaps to convey that her superior could never do wrong when in the presence of one of her followers or perhaps just to shake some sense back into her still slightly groggy, drug ridden brain. Then again, Hinata usually had a way of reacting a certain way without the slightest idea as to why. Heiress training had a way of making a person act politely even under the influence. As the younger girl thought to herself, she watched as the Fifth walked toward the end of her bed, grabbed her chart, nod thoughtfully, and then slap it shut.

"I won't lie Hinata, I did not come here to check up on you," Tsunade said, then hastily added, "Though I am glad you are alright."

Others may have taken offense to this, but Hinata took no mind. Tsunade had never paid a visit to her while she was in the hospital before and saw no reason why she should expect such pleasantries now.

"I came to talk about Naruto." Promptly, the Hyuuga sat slightly straighter and her ears figuratively perked up at her love's name. "Don't worry, he's here and stable."

Just as instantaneously, the girl relaxed slightly though her white eyes never left Tsunade's hazel ones. Under normal circumstances, the dark haired girl would never look any superior, let alone the Hokage, directly in the eyes, but these were no normal circumstances indeed. Her true love was involved and in this time of uncertainty, she searched the other woman's eyes for any hints as to his mental and emotional condition.

"Does he…?"

"We believe he's emotionally stable as well…" The blonde hesitated. "For now."

"For now?" Hinata repeated and Tsunade took a seat on the edge of the young shinobi's bed.

"By some miracle we got him to agree to check himself into the psychiatric ward here at the hospital. However, he made some demands first." She paused.

"First, he asked for unlimited amounts of ramen." Both women smiled.

"Second, for Itachi to remain his psychiatrist."

Tsunade stole a glance at Hinata to see if she was surprised in anyway, but, honestly, the girl was not. After seeing the two men's reaction on the rooftop the day she snuck away to see Naruto, she knew the boy was in good hands. In fact, she had never seen the blonde haired teen be so open with anyone in her life. Despite herself, she had become slightly jealous of this stranger, but if it helped her love, she truly had no right to retain any ill feelings towards him. After noting that Hinata had no visible reaction to this second request, Tsunade nodded and hesitated a moment longer.

"His last request was…that you visit him regularly while he was here."

It was here that Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and only years' worth of etiquette training kept her mouth from hanging open like a bass. Surely, he didn't want to see her again, not after he had yelled at her in the clearing. He had seemed so upset with her, though perhaps it was a general anger pointed more towards the world; she still assumed he would want to cut all ties he had with her. Yet, here she sat hearing the exact opposite.

Despite all the warning bells and the more rational side screaming that he must not have thought out his requests fully, she could nearly literally feel her soul disconnect from her body, float through the ceiling, and do flips, loop-de-loops, and spin its way to cloud nine. Eventually, her rational side got annoyed with yelling, however, and it pulled the young girl back down to earth with a problematic obstacle.

"Bu—but my father!" And for the first time since the Hokage had entered the room, she smiled genuinely.

"I believe your talent with herbal medicines is simply incredible and I _insist_ that you volunteer here at the hospital so that we can further you education to cover all fields of medicine so that you can become a medical ninja." Tsunade winked. "Say, at least several times a week?"

Hinata did not react for a great deal of time. In fact, Tsunade began to worry about the girl, as she seemed to freeze mid breath. Then, due to an uncontrollable urge, Hinata launched herself at Tsunade, capturing her in a hug. However, as soon as she realized that she had basically attacked the leader of Konoha she released the woman as if she had burned herself, turned bright read and fainted on the spot.

As there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action, Tsunade moved very slowly after Hinata's response. She blinked, once, twice, and then stood up, carefully as to not disturb the unconscious girl, tiptoed from the room, but stopped at the door. She took a moment in considering whether she should do anything for the girl, but after a second or so merely shook her head and walked out the door. She still had to deal with Hiashi after all, and she needed all the energy she could spare.

:D BD :P XD x) (X *w* (VAMPIRE!) :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w* :D BD :P XD x) (X *w*

As Naruto wasn't a lying man…anymore…most of the time…unless he had to be…or wanted to be…well, as he was honest at the moment, he wouldn't say life in the physc ward was great or that he got better right away. Actually, he was stuck in the maddening place for a galling six months. He couldn't say that he didn't still have issues with sharp and pointing objects or that he didn't still have days where he needed some kind of fix. In fact, he might even admit he probably could have healed just as well in the Uchiha household…but only if one Uchiha in particular had no chance of finding such facts out. Because, as fate would have it, Sasuke _had_ wanted Uzumaki to return but the blonde refused.

Despite how he hated hospitals, the idea of him being scheduled every moment of the day, and watched twenty-four seven, Naruto somehow knew he had to stay. Sure enough, he woke up every morning with the scent of antiseptics from other floors. Every day he did the same tasks with little variation throughout the week. In addition, in the night, he practically twitched himself to sleep because his shinobi training simply refused to let him ignore the fact that someone was _watching _him.

However, the antiseptics served as an instant reminder of where he was when he awoke from night terrors in the middle of the dark room and when his mind was still caught in the nightmare. The everyday routine left little time for him to dwell on his situation, memories, or any "bad" thoughts in general. Eventually, he didn't even mind having eyes on him at all times because it never gave him the opportunity to do something stupid. Plus…it felt good not being alone for once.

Besides, he considered himself lucky. Though he was still part of the physc ward and had to participate in all the normal activities, he actually had a private room and, more importantly, a private bathroom. He could choose to eat in his room (though he rarely did because then he would receive no silverware for…safety purposes). He had a television as he did in his old room (however, it was enclosed in a clear plastic case). The only thing he really hated was having to wear chakra inhibitors constantly. Still no training allowed.

Nonetheless, he had his relapses. Once or twice, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night and all he'd be able to think about was his failures, his faults, and how he wasting people's time, resources, and energy by being alive. So yes, he was all but tackled once when they realized he had broken a tile in the bathroom and used it to cut himself while pretending to take a quick shower to help him sleep. (He began to shower in his boxers after that….) The second time the boy got away with cutting for almost three days when he realized there was a sharp patch of exposed metal on the left side of his bed just above his ankle.

Overall, the Kyuubi container thought he had made significant progress during his stay. Itachi visited with him daily. Apparently, living a double life had led to much of his self-loathing and low self-worth. Had something to do with his two separate life styles being so overwhelming, the line between who he believed himself to be and who he pretended to be became blurred, but because he had always rejected who he pretended to be, he began to believe that he as a whole was worthless. Or something like that. It was hard to understand Itachi's notes and he only got to steal his stupid manila folder every once in a while. For not being an actual psychiatrist, he sure knew a lot of mumbo jumbo.

Plus, Naruto wasn't nearly as alone here as he was at the Uchiha compound. Ironically, he saw a lot more of Sasuke now that he was here. Before, he'd only seen the raven haired teen unless the blonde went to watch the other boy train. Now his teammate came over nearly every day and they spent an hour doing whatever came to mind. Sometimes the two shinobis' time together was passed playing some of the stupid games they had in the group area of the ward; other days they spent the entire time talking.

As per his request, Hinata came over several times a week as well. She usually had to practice some medical stuff, but he was the perfect test dummy…except the blonde had a tendency to pretend she did something to cause him great pain just to see her freak out. (She never did catch on that he was just messing with her….) It was really nice having someone to rant to…who didn't write down everything he said. Naruto found that he could tell Hinata a lot more than he told Sasuke. But, then again, Sasuke was a still stoic teme in general, so that wasn't too surprising.

To his surprise, other people came to visit him as well on a regular basis. Kakashi, Sakura, even Sai came often. Iruka visited at least twice a week, Tsunade and Shizune at least once. The rookie nine plus team Guy visited in random intervals throughout the month, sometimes in small groups, others by themselves. Soon he began to believe that maybe they _did_ care.

Although the cerulean eyed boy never noticed consciously, he eventually realized that he thought about dying less and less. Soon, his hands stopped itching for something to cut himself. In just over 6 months, he actually considered himself…content, maybe even happy.

Even so, when Tsunade told him his release date was scheduled for his birthday, he quickly objected. The citizens of Konoha had always been…less than kind on that day. Well, even less than usual. They became more daring, and thus their hatred became much more pronounce. Sure, Naruto wanted to leave, but he didn't want his first day back to be marked by their hatred. He didn't want that to be his life…again.

However, his protests fell on deaf ears. Tsunade insisted that it would be the perfect birthday gift! Great. Still, the fifth Hokage wasn't _completely_ oblivious and suggested that he stay with Sasuke the first day back. They'd fixed his apartment while he was gone, but it might be better for him not to be alone right off the bat. Normally, Naruto would reject the offer instantly, but he hesitated. Reluctantly, the teen agreed and the women seemed to brighten considerably.

The day of his discharge came too soon. Everything, which wasn't much at all, was packed. His room was completely clean. Now, he just gave the stripped room that he'd called home for half a year a good once over. Finally, it hit him that he'd spent over _6 months_ in the single bedroom. Naruto remembered how he had planned just to quit cutting on his own and wondered if that was even possible, but shook his head. He'd done a lot more than stop cutting.

"Dobe, stop day dreaming and let's go already." Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's impatience. _He_ hadn't lived here for so long, he didn't understand. With a sigh, the blonde boy turned on his heel and left the miserable hospital room.

:D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~ :D b^^d *U* `_' C: ~^v^~

Sasuke was taking the strangest route to his house that Naruto could imagine. They literally went all the way to Konoha's limits before making their way around the city to their destination. The blonde boy was going to point out how ridiculous the scenic route was, but it occurred to him that maybe his teammate _did_ know his situation and that they were avoiding all the villagers.

…Nah.

Well, for whatever reason they took such a route, Naruto was just extremely glad to see the Uchiha compound. After not leaving the hospital for 6 months, the exercise was somewhat strenuous. He _definitely _needed to work out and train if he wanted to return to active duty. Finally, they reached the main house and all the blonde wanted to do was just sit on the nearest couch and take a nice, long, quite nap….

"SURPRISE!" The Kyuubi Container jumped at least a foot in the air, nearly hitting his head on the top of the door panel. Instinctively, the shinobi fell into a taijutsu stance, but as his eyes darted back and forth, he saw that all his friends were in the room. Quickly, he dropped his arms and with him fell his mouth.

"Wha-?"

"Happy Birthday Naruto!" The words took a second to register, but as soon as they did, a big smile erupted on the blonde's face and he began to laugh.

"I almost killed you guys!"

"Like you could." Kiba yelled out to his left, and Naruto leapt at his friend with the intent to tackle him. Everyone either rolled their eyes or laughed and the party started up in full swing.

It wasn't long before everyone was settled in. All the girls had formed a little group off to one side that often could be heard giggling at one gossip or another. Shikamaru seemed half-asleep in a chair next to the snack table, where Choji spent nearly the entire night eating and talking to Kiba. The most reclusive party goers like Shino, Neji, and Sasuke were settled on the couches, flipping through the television channels. The adults had brought some sake and other alcohol and spent much of the evening getting drunk in the kitchen. While Naruto, the guest of honor, went from group to group chatting to anyone who would turn his way (which was now everyone) like the star of the party should. Per Naruto's request, the group played ridiculous party games like charades and scotch tape.* Someone ended up spiking the punch, and soon everyone was at least a little buzzed, whether they'd admit it or not.

Late into the night, everyone was exhausted and contemplating whether to go home. Naruto himself was worn out, but it didn't really show because he kept flitting around the groups. Eventually though, the blonde took a seat and sighed. As soon as he did however, he heard a soft voice behind him.

"Um, Naruto-kun?" The teen twisted his head and saw Hinata.

"Oh, hey. What's up Hinata-chan? I mean, other than your head. You know, since it's above mine? Uh, never mind. Did you want to say something?"

"I wanted to know if—if you'd—you'd take a walk with me quickly?" The dark haired girl turned completely red making the blonde boy smile.

"Of course."

The male pushed himself up and out of the chair before motioning for her to lead the way. The Hyuuga blushed again and turned her head down as if afraid of others watching them. Naruto didn't notice anyone else though, instead keeping his attention on the girl who asked for it. When they stepped outside, a small wind blew at them, and they both shivered at the chill.

"You cold?" Hinata shook her head and so they began to walk.

Neither spoke as they left the Uchiha compound. It wasn't until they were near the forest that Naruto said anything.

"So…am I taking you home?" She shook her head.

"So…we're just walking?" Hinata was about to nod, but then shook her head. Naruto stopped.

"Do you have something you wanna talk about?" The girl, who hadn't stopped walking when the blonde had, now stopped about five feet away from him. After a moment, she finally turned to face him and she seemed to be shaking. Naruto moved towards her and began to open his mouth to speak when she finally blurted out,

"Naruto-kun, I—I love you!"

ˡ Nope not insanity. Oh how I love thesauri…that's the plural of a thesaurus isn't it o.O?

² Ha Ha I wish he had a strait-jacket, they look so fun! But I don't think they would put one on Naruto because it might irritate his wounds :( Too bad…

³ I'm taking Anatomy this year, I can't help but be technical ''' In case you don't know where this is, it's actually the sides of your skull as in your temples, but it extends all the way over to above your ears when talking about the skull. 

* In case you've never played, scotch tape is when everyone but the caller is blindfolded and they must find other people and get into groups of whatever the caller calls. …It's really funny when someone tries to hug a tree or runs into a wall and stuff XD

**THERE WE HAVE IT! ' GoodNESS that took forever XD. Well three days. Still, it's 3 am on New Years and I'm EXHAUSTED. Lol. But now the regular part of the story is DONE! :D :D :D All that's left are the multiple endings ;)**

**I hoped you really liked the chapter. As I said, it was the climax. I like to think Naruto's climax was in the first part and Hinata's confession was for hers and you know I think Sasuke's still hasn't occurred, but a story can't have multiple climaxes so close together…can it? O.o lol XD the problem with multiple characters :)**

**Anyway, thank you all my loyal fans! As this story's so close to its close, I can't thank you for all your support and reviews enough ^^**

**That being said…**

**RE**

**VIEW**

**PUH**

**LEASE**

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**Everybody's doing it!**

**And if you like to be different:**

**Make a unique statement by speaking your mind through a review! ;)**


	15. Love, Hinata Ending

**Disclaimer- No. To the thing you are thinking of, the answer is no.**

**A GIANT SQUEALING HUG TO: **dreamingwandererofthelight, Shinigami95, pennypigeon, Serendipital, Sasuke Rules All of You, Aimogene, KagomeGirl021, Kingkakashi, Narutopokefan, Sabaku no Omi, Mitzzi, Jessenia-chan, Lemon demon, MrsHellman, dragonzice, and Beloved Daughter **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND A HAPPY GLOMP TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY! :D**

**Also: ****Jessenia-chan= your statement on cows forcing us to grass has MADE MY LIFE :P**

**Before I start this chapter, I would just like to remind everyone that murder IS illegal and usually frowned upon, so please don't kill me for being this late. ^^'**

**WARNING: THIS IS THE NARUHINA ENDING. (SasuNaru will be the next. :P)**

Chapter 15: Love

_Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills my mind  
I somehow find  
You and I collide_

~Collide by Howie Day

Every blessing has its curse, as Hinata Hyuuga knew very well. She was, as fate would have it, blessed with the honor of being the first-born child of the first branch in one of the few and respected Konoha clans. Everyone knew just by looking at her in what way this blessing cursed her. (Although they could not tell whether it was her personality that made her status a curse or whether her curse brought about the strange mannerism and debilitating shyness.) The curse that people could not grasp, however, plagued the life of this young ex-heiress more than her status ever could. For her clan's greatest treasure, her remarkable sight, led Hinata to see more than she ever wished.

No, she did not see perverse, grotesque, or private matters that scarred her poor virgin eyes (as many persons thought for an unknown reason). No, it was the everyday happenings, the tell-all signs each person unintentionally exuded while he or she took part in the circadian interactions that life required that tore apart her being. Bluntly stated, Hinata learned to read people early in life and hated her ability to do so. She loathed seeing the twitches, the rubbing, the small tells each person had. Seeing a lover look upward while the other half of the couple spoke, the tapping of a table as a friend weaves a lie to a friend, or the biting of one's lip in pure hurt at a rejection…the visions began to destroy what little faith she had in humanity. The girl could barely retain her sanity in the midst of her constant awareness of how often people lie and hide their true feelings. What's worse, her hatred for this dishonesty only served to make her feel hypocritical. After all, she hid her feelings from the one she loved every day.

But now! No longer would she need to hide! She had finally told her love, torn the words from the depth of her heart where she had buried them for many, many years. The words had come out garbled, falling apart at the seams in an unsightly form, but they were out. Her love had been thrown into the air, waiting to be received.

…Instead it hung.

She watched, not them, but the catcher. Frozen, not from shock, but as if death had claimed him the moment her words were released. His face composed in an emotionless mask; his eyes as clear yet shallow as a doll's.

Slowly, at first, her love began to fall in anticipation of the catch.

Hinata's eyes grew wide. For the first time in her life, she actively searched for a sign, his tell, that would reveal his thoughts. When she saw none…

The words fell faster, picking up speed with the acceleration of gravity.

"…Hinata…"

As if glass had crashed to the ground, his words sent sharp shrapnel through Hinata's being. Her shoulders slumped forward, her spine forming a c-curve slightly, as if she had the air knocked out of her. The world seemed off balance, as if she had all of her weight resting on one foot leaving the other feeling uncomfortably light.

The poor girl's mind began unraveling a bit, frankly, and while her reaction would seem exaggerated to any mere passerby, the pain the ex-heiress felt was tenfold. Every interaction, every shared moment (both real and imagined) the girl had shared with this boy across from her fell upon her like anvils in a cartoon. Each crushed her, certainly, but mocked her with their existence because she should have seen this conclusion. The crush never returns the sentiment after a confession.

"I—I can't." He whispered across the clearing.

Detached as she felt from the world, his voice was as clear as day. Instead of far away, it felt as if his words were said directly into her ears. Closer even; as if said from her very coal. How ironic it was that the loud-mouthed boy she had fallen in love with was reduced to nothing more than whispers. Now it was he who stuttered.

As much as she wanted to hear his excuse, she could not bear to. She could not stand listening to him blame himself, to hear him degrade her friend she still loved. Hinata had failed, not him. Before he could open his mouth again, she turned and fled. The Hyuuga girl ran more quickly than she had for any enemy and even than she had on that frightful night in search of Naruto.

As she ran, the ripping of trees as she tore through the forest almost engulfed the last, "HINATA!" Almost.

D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D D: :( TT-TT ¡-¡ ;_; ): ;D

Sasuke was actually having fun. The avenger would certainly never admit the fact and would scowl if anyone tried to suggest such an impossible idea. Having attended very few parties, besides the few Uchiha compound celebrations he attended as a child, Sasuke hardly knew what to do with himself. What does one do at parties? He certainly was not going to go giggle and gossip with the girls or gorge himself at the snack table. The punch was definitely spiked and after a few sips, Sasuke refrained from that as well. With little other choices, he resigned himself to sit on the couches with Neji and Shino who were watching the television. Although seated in front of the bright screen, the Uchiha kept his eyes more on Naruto. The blonde was the life of the party, flitting like a humming bird from group to group. What's more, everyone welcomed him. The giggling girls joked about his antics. The adults smirked at Naruto's embarrassed face when he caught the end of an inappropriate conversation. Choji stopped stuffing food down his throat to laugh at Naruto's loud arguments with Kiba about who is stronger. Neji didn't even flinch when the blonde popped his head in over Neji's shoulder to check out the show every now and then.

Onyx eyes studied the blonde as he laughed at Lee's attempt to stay "youthful" despite his obvious exhaustion. One would never know he had just left a psychiatric hospital. No one could guess how much pain and suffering the teen had experienced throughout his short lifetime. Even Sasuke was uncertain whether or not his only friend had overcome the darkness to finally accept the bright future that was surely in store for the blonde. All that was sure was that Uzumaki Naruto was happy now. Naruto's eyes flickered his way, caught them for a moment, and he smiled. The other teen made a large show of an exaggerated yawn then went to one of the nearby chairs where he flopped onto it with a sigh. Sasuke averted his glance, pretending to watch the television, but he didn't miss a thing. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata mutter something to his friend and Naruto grinning as he stood. The sharingan wielder followed the couple with his eyes as they walked out the door, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. Once they were out the door, Sasuke turned his eyes back to the screen staring blankly.

It was not long before the partygoers started calling it a night. Leavers asked where Naruto was so they could say goodbye, but no one had seen him. Sasuke had kept his eye on the door as much as possible, but hadn't seen Naruto return from his trip with Hinata. The Hyuuga didn't return either. Eventually, everyone had left but him and Itachi. Neji had been the last to leave, supposedly waiting for Hinata. Eventually though, he accepted that she had left ahead of time and bid the Uchiha pair good night. When they were all alone, Itachi came and sat next to Sasuke on the couch.

"You seem worried Otouto." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"He hasn't returned yet. He should have."

"He will in time."

"He just got released!" Sasuke snapped while turning to stare at his brother angrily. "What if he had a run in with the villagers or something set him off. I know it's been 6 months, but it's much easier to revert to old ways than to remain strong."

"He will return Sasuke. You much trust him."

Almost as if on cue, footsteps pattered against the roof. The brothers stared into each other's eyes. Finally, Sasuke sighed.

"I'm going to go talk to him." Itachi stood and began to walk out of the room.

"If you think that is wise."

Sasuke stared at the still lit television screen for a second. The ecstatic faces of actors selling some product seemed mocking. The dark teen bent his head and rubbed his eyes with the ends of his fingers. He forced himself to stand and walk toward the front door. He should be more careful about what he wished for.

-_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7

When Sasuke reached the roof, his heart caught in his throat. There the blonde sat, blank cerulean eyes staring out onto the treetops and one knee folded into his chest. A single gust of wind blew making the trees rustle softly and pushing Naruto's signature blonde locks onto his face, covering his eyes solemnly. Any hint of the happy go-lucky birthday boy was completely gone. In his stead, was the void being that Sasuke had hoped was gone for good.

Slowly, the Uchiha walked toward the lone figure. The whiskered teen did not react to the sound of his friend's footsteps, nor did he react when the other teen sat beside him. Neither spoke right away, on Sasuke's part because he was afraid that if he spoke, the other boy might shatter into a million pieces. Therefore, the two rivals sat. They stared at the trees, still in the ominous night.

"She told me she loved me." Sasuke almost slid down the side of the roof. "Hinata did. I know you saw us leave."

Another wind blew by, sending an eerily cold chill through Sasuke's bones.

"And? What did you say?"

"I—I couldn't, I can't!" The blonde turned and their eyes locked. Blue eyes filled with pain and fear met black ones filled with shock. "She's perfect Sasuke! I mean, I can talk to her in a way I cannot talk to anyone else, even you. I tell her things I can't even admit to myself. She's been there all along, her love that I wasn't even aware of until tonight has helped cure me, and, and, and—"

Despite the blonde's obvious pain, Sasuke smirked. Naruto in turn scowled.

"Teme! What are you smiling about?"

"I'm sorry. I'm waiting for the reason why you didn't tell her you loved her back. It's obvious that you do."

Naruto broke their gaze and stared at the roof tiles, his hair once again shielding his eyes.

"…She's too perfect Sasuke. I could never be with her. I'm nothing more than the knuckle headed Jinchuriki. I've already ruined her life enough! If I was to be with her, do you know what people would do to her? Do you know what her own clan would do? I could never put her in any kind of danger, never! Besides that, why on earth would she love me? _Me_! I'm an absolute mess! I could never give her the kind of life she deserves, I could never make her as happy as she should be."

They were both quiet for a moment. Sasuke leaned back against the roof.

"But you already do make her happy." Naruto's head snapped up, but remained facing straight ahead.

"She knows you're a jinchuriki and she knows that comes with a heavy burden. While I might not know exactly how her clan would react, I am certain she does. She is a capable ninja Naruto, she has evaluated the situation thoroughly before going through with her confession. She wants to be with you Naruto. She loves you. Why a dobe like you? Who knows what she sees, but she sees it. Even if you could never give her the kind of life, you think she deserves or make her as happy as you may want her to be, we both know you would try to more than any other would man alive would. If you really love her, you would devote yourself to her instead of throwing her aside. Even if you think it's for her own good, you've only hurt her."

Naruto's body suddenly started trembling and for a moment, Sasuke was worried he had upset him. Suddenly, laughing filled the air.

"Teme! When did the stoic jerk we all knew and hated become so well versed in relationship counseling!"

"Baka, everything about you is so obvious. Everyone knew the Hyuuga loved you! You would too if you weren't so oblivious."

"Who are you calling a baka!"

"You since you're still here." Naruto stood up quickly, actually catching Sasuke off guard. The blonde stood there silently for a second, the Uchiha watching him from where he sat.

"Thanks teme." Sasuke smirked.

"Chh. At least you're smart enough to ask me for advice."

With one last "teme," Naruto hopped onto a nearby tree and disappeared into the forest.

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Like any young girl facing rejection from one's true love, the young Hyuuga wanted nothing more than to return home, curl into a ball, and cry until she could no longer. That said, Hinata headed straight home as fast as she could force herself to run and, when she arrived to her destination, she flew through the door.

In her unstable emotional state, however, she had forgotten she and Neji had told her father they were going to spar together before lying down to sleep. Needless to say, arriving later than expected, without Neji, seemed odd to Hiashi. Seeing his daughter run past the entrance without noticing his presence seemed odder still. Hearing her slam her bedroom door finally caused the older man to sigh, push himself up, and begin to walk toward Hinata's room. The man had to wonder if wishing that his daughter and nephew were out doing what they had told them they were doing was too much to ask. Hiashi had survived a ninja war, but these teenagers may be the death of him.

As he neared the teen's bedroom, the Hyuuga leader's shoulders slumped slightly at the sound of sobs. At times like these, Hiashi hated being a single father. The elder Hyuuga lacked the compassion and finesse required to dealing with a young girl's turmoil. He had been raised as a shinobi; shinobi did not show their emotions. Yet, as a father, he knew he needed to soothe his daughter and quell her tears. How he missed his wife at times like these. She was so loving and kind, so much like his daughter. She would know exactly what to say to calm Hinata.

Before he could open young Hinata's door, however, Hiashi stopped. Doubt began to surge through the leader of the Hyuuga clan. What if he only made matters worse by walking in there? His lack of education in this department of childcare may lead his daughter to only more heartache. Especially since the man was fairly certain this sadness pertained to a boy. Perhaps the very blonde boy he had forbidden his daughter from seeing. In order to console her, the Hyuuga would have to admit to knowing her "medical training" was just a guise for her visits to see Uzumaki, and then he would lose some credibility as a strong, strict father.

Slowly and unsurely, the man turned and walked away again. The sobs were still heart retching, but he could not risk making matters worse. Instead, the father walked back to where he sat at the table and tried to occupy himself. No matter how he tried to distract himself from his daughter's pain, he simply could not. In the end, the man resigned himself to sitting with his forehead resting against the top of his intertwined hands, his eyes staring blankly at the wood tabletop. Whoever caused his daughter this much pain would not survive long if he could help it. Oh, why did he have to have a daughters and not sons?

When the door opened and Neji entered, Hinata's sobs had quieted but had not stopped. Neji, however, heard them upon entering the room where Hiashi sat in the exact same position he had been sitting in for the last hour. Neji scowled and was about to walk toward Hinata's room, but the elder Hyuuga caught him by the arm.

"Leave her be. She is obviously in mourning."

If Neji had not known why Hinata was crying, he put the pieces together at that point. He tried to turn and head back out the door, most likely to give the blonde a piece of his mind, but Hiashi stopped the boy mid-step with a curt "leave it!"

"But—"

"She is old enough to fight her own battles. Let her overcome this on her own merit and strength. You may deal with any other matters after she has come to term with her situation herself. Go to sleep now. The morning will bring a new situation."

Neji stared into the blank eyes of his elder, then nodded. The teen stormed out of the room toward his own, but it was only after Hiashi heard the door shut did he allow himself to sigh. Now he may have made an enemy of his nephew, parenting was an impossible task.

He sat again, this time staring straight ahead, thinking of his dearly departed wife and about how she would have handle this predicament with so much more grace. At some point later in the night, when Hinata's cries were quiet enough to not be heard from where he sat, Hiashi heard a knock at the door. The Hyuuga closed his eyes. Oh Kami, please let this be a solution not a catalyst. He stood ever so slowly as if dreading whatever was on the other side of that door. Upon reaching the door, he hesitated opening it, but did so anyway.

If he had ever believed his situation could not become more stressing, the door revealed a certain blonde haired trouble marker. Only years of etiquette training kept the middle-aged man from slamming the door on the teen and only law kept him from murdering the boy right then. Instead, he stared blankly at the young man.

By Uzumaki's stature, Hiashi could tell the boy had mentally and physically prepared himself for the worst. The teen stood at attention, stiffly, and with his chest slightly raised. His arms and legs were tense, as if prepared to fall into a combat stance or block a punch if thrown. Boldly, his azure eyes were locked on Hiashi's.

"Is Hina—Hinata home?" Despite his preparation, the young man could not keep his voice from shaking slightly.

"That is none of your business."

"Please Hyuuga-san, I must speak to her."

"She is in no state to talk and under no circumstances are you allowed to speak to her." With that, the Hyuuga moved to close the door. Naruto stopped him.

"Please! I understand that you don't like me, that you can't stand me actually, but I didn't mean to upset her. Upsetting her is the _last_ thing I wanted to do. I need to speak to her and I'm afraid if I don't right my wrong now, she may never speak to me again."

"From which she would benefit." The young teen's head dropped. For a moment, both were silent. Neither spoke, neither moved. Hiashi was about to close the door once more when the Kyuubi container finally raised his glaze. Hiashi could see the inner tumult in the man's clear eyes.

"Hyuuga-sama, I agree. Hinata would be better off without me, I've told her that before. When she told me she loved me, I knew I had to push her away. But…I can make her happy. I know I can, I know I do! And…she makes me happy. She makes me happy when no one else can. If I thought I could, I would never see her again. I would let her find someone better, someone worthy of her. But the moment she left…I knew I couldn't bear being without her."

"If you don't let me in now, fine. I'll find some other way to talk to her, and if she won't talk to me…then I'm sure she'll live happily ever after without me. And, if she will, I'd be there for her anyway I can until the moment I die. Even if she can no longer love me after the pain I have put her through, I will be there for her until the very end. _But_, if you let me in now, I will tell her what I've told you now and there may be a chance that she will forgive me. I swear I would dedicate myself to making her happy and keeping her safe. I don't have much, but she would have whatever I can give her." Naruto smiled sadly.

"I know that's probably not enough for you, and whatever decision you make will be what you think is best for Hinata. I'll honor your choice because, in the end, that's all I want as well."

Again, neither man spoke nor moved. Hiashi studied the boy in front of him and with every second that passed, he noticed the boy slump further in defeat as he knew every passing moment just insure rejection. The Hyuuga knew the boy's past; knew of his foolish pranks as a child, his failing while in the academy, and his sudden growth in strength in maturity since training with the great sage, Jiraiya. He knew of his recent involuntary commitment, though he could see that he had now been released. By letting the boy in, Hiashi knew that his daughter may one day marry this young man and she would face the backlash of marrying the Kyuubi's container. Other Hyuuga members will frown upon her that much more, perhaps even demand her exile and the village people may subject her to the same cruelness with which they treat Uzumaki.

Despite all of this, and his better judgment, Hiashi moved inside. The blonde stared in shock.

"Quickly now." Naruto's smile reached from ear to ear as he stepped into the house. As he entered, however, Hiashi grabbed his arm.

"If you break my daughter's heart again, I will break every bone in your body to the point that the Kyuubi will be unable to heal them." Uzumaki swallowed audibly but nodded his head. Hiashi let go and watched the boy quickly walk toward Hinata's room.

As soon as the boy had entered her room and closed the door behind him, Hiashi put his middle finger and thumb against the ends of one eyebrow, with his pointer finger pressed against his forehead and sighed before closing the door.

How simpler things used to be when parents did not have to worry about the ridiculousness of love. Arranged marriage is a wonderful practice indeed.

:P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ :P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ :P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ :P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ :P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ :P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^:P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ :P :D :x :* :] =D =] ^^ ;)

The moment Naruto walked into Hinata's room the excitement from having just won not, exactly approval as much as acceptance from Hyuuga Hiashi, disappeared. Hinata's sobs caused his body to fill with toxic guilt and her pain torn away his confidence in chunks. The girl was nothing more than a small, shaking lump under the covers, like a dog hiding in fear. The blonde knew he had hurt the other teen, but he hadn't expected her to react so violently.

Hinata hadn't seemed to notice his entrance, so Naruto silently walked to her bed. Slowly, he sat on the edge of the bed. Instantly, the girl froze; a single sob stopped mid-creation. Even slower, the blonde grabbed the edge of the covers and began to peel them away until he saw her face. Their eyes met and it took the girl a second to realize who was leaning over her.

As soon as she did, though, she squeaked loudly, sat up far too quickly, and hit her forehead against the intruder's chin.

"Yeow! Jeez Hinata! You're skull's hard!"

Both teens clutching their wounded body parts stared at each other for a moment. Then, despite what had happened not a couple hours earlier in the clearing, the two began to laugh. Naruto, in large relieved, chuckles, Hinata in soft giggles mixed with tears. The laughs came to an end far too soon, as Hinata's giggling turned to sobs once again and Naruto's smile fell into a frown. He moved to place a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, but she pulled away from him. Hurriedly, she scooted herself away from the man she loved and covered her face with her hands.

"Hinata…."

"What are you doing here Naruto-kun?" The words came out slightly muffled from her hands and her sobs, but the question was clear to the boy.

"I didn't mean to hurt you Hinata."

When she looked up, he knew the pain was clear in his too revealing eyes. Hastily, Hinata wiped the tears from her eyes and face to the best of her ability. She dropped her hands and eyes to her lap.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. It's not your fault, really. I understand that you don't feel the same way."

"Hinata…"

"No, Naruto-kun. You don't have to explain. You didn't have to sneak in and check up on me."

"I didn't sneak in. Your dad let me in." Hinata's confused eyes rose and he couldn't keep from smiling.

"Yup! Crazy, right? But he did."

"Wh—Why?" Naruto grabbed her hand.

"I—I don't quite understand why myself but…. I never said I didn't feel the same Hinata." Perhaps without even knowing, the girl squeezed his hand and Naruto's smile grew wider.

"Hinata, the second those words came out of your mouth, I was happier than I've ever been. You've always made me happy in ways no one else could. I can talk to you in ways I can't with anyone else. You're one of my special people and I was thrilled to hear I was one of yours." His smile disappeared.

"But Hinata, I'm not good enough for you. I've just barely come to turns with being good enough to live! You could do so much better and find someone who could give you so much more. If you're with me…my life's hard, Hinata. I still need a lot of fixing and I'm not exactly safe. I knew that I had to turn you down."

"You must have seen that, didn't you? That I was going to say 'no'? The second you left though, my world just crashed around me. The thought of not having you by my side…it was unbearable. I need you Hinata. All of this is really selfish, but if I can make you as happy as you make me…please let me. What all of this means…what I've been trying to get around to saying is…Hinata, I think I love you too, so would you be my girlfriend?"

Naruto finally stopped talking and stared at the girl in front of him. The tears had started falling again mid-way through the speech and, although she had sobbed a few times, she had never said a word. Both sat in silence. Eventually, the prankster became antsy.

"…Um hello?" The timid girl mumbled something. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Yes!"

The boy's face burst into a smile and he grabbed the girl into his arms, stood, lifted her into the air and twirled her around.

"Don't leave me hanging like that! Wow, I hope I wasn't as bad as that, was I?" Hinata giggle a little.

Slowly, Naruto stopped turning until she stood in front of him. Hesitantly, he wiped away the tears on her face. After he finished, he stared at her intently.

"I hope I never make you cry again."

"Me—Me too Naruto-kun."

"…Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Hu—?" Before she could finish, Naruto swooped in and gave her a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. In the normal Hinata fashion, she began to turn bright red.

"I love it when you blush."

Much slower this time, Naruto kissed his new girlfriend. They stood that way for a while until they heard a cough. They broke apart, each making a loud squeaking sound, and turned. There, Hyuuga Hiashi stood in the open door way.

"Out."

The blonde wasted no time. With a quick, "Bye Hinata! See you tomorrow," Naruto sprinted out of the room and seconds later the two Hyuugas heard the slam of the front door. Hinata stood stock still waiting for her father's wrath, but all the older Hyuuga did was put his hand on his forehead in the same fashion as he always did, sigh, and leave the room.

Hinata could almost make out what he was muttering under his breath…

"I just had to let him in, didn't I?"

**And that folks is one ending to You'd Be Surprised. 3 I honestly thought I would never get to this point. .-.**

**It's been a super long journey considering where I came from to this point now, at 1:50 in the morning. I started this fanfiction as a way to deal with my own depression, finding solace in a shared secret with main character, though hardly the same circumstances. :P After I was banned from my other fanfiction, I got a new outlook on life and I really tried to fix myself up. My battle was much longer than 6 months, and sometimes I worry it's not gone for good, but my life has gotten so much better. In the three years of writing this, I've gotten a boyfriend, lost and made some friends, moved states, and actually wrote a completely different original novel XD (NaNoWriMo helps you get a lot more done considering you can't procrastinate like you want to).**

**My life now has been so much different. Leaving before my senior year has made me change dramatically and become a lot more like I've always wanted to be. I'm more confident, outspoken, and I actually get things done. Sadly, I'm lonelier, but the stuff you learn about yourself when you are alone! On my horizon is college (which has already crept into my life slowly, but surely) and it's going to be just as insane.**

**To everyone reading this, I hope you enjoyed the story, I sure enjoyed the ride. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE FOR ME ALL THESE YEARS. The reviews were sometimes the only thing that kept me going. I don't know where I would be with writing and all you people reading.**

**If you're waiting for the Yaoi ending, don't worry. You won't have to wait another year (hopefully!) for it to be up because it is halfway done. I wanted to finish it tonight but I am DEAD. :P**

**Thank you Readers and Reviewers,**

**VampireGaaraCheesepuffs**

**~Everything you love in ONE PenName~**


	16. Love, Sasuke Ending

**Disclaimer- I like cheesepuffs.**

**A PERSONALIZED SERENADE TO: **eatcatbuffet, Aimogene, ForeverWildfire2.0, Beloved Daughter , Kingkakashi, KissKiss-Dattebayo (x2 gosh I loved that ^^), Suave Jiraiya, Extreme Kiwi, KeitorinNara, Miss Light Bright, wolfeclipse25, and Jigoku-HI **FOR REVIEWING! **

**AND A LOVELY SONG TO THOSE WHO FAVORITED OR STORY ALERTED THIS STORY! :D**

**Extra special love to Extreme Kiwi. Your review basically made me cry. I love you and I swear that's not creepy! **

**But really: thank you everyone who has EVER reviewed! Nearly 400 ^^! My dream was 200!**

**For any who have read the NaruHina ending, be forewarned that much of the beginning is nearly the same (save Naruto's reaction to Hinata and the big scene on the roof ;)). You can choose to skim over those parts, but there are some differences. They're so similar because they are stemming off the same story, but don't worry! They get VERY different pretty quickly. :D **

**WARNING: THIS IS THE SASUNARU ENDING. (Read the chapter before for NaruHina!)**

Chapter 15: Love

_I've been jumping from the tops of buildings.  
For the thrill of the fall.  
Ignoring sound advice  
And any thought of consequence.  
My bones are shattered.  
My pride is shattered.  
And in the midst of  
This self-inflicting pain  
I can see my beautiful rescue._

~My Beautiful Rescue by This Providence

Every blessing has its curse, as Hinata Hyuuga knew very well. She was, as fate would have it, blessed with the honor of being the first-born child of the first branch in one of the few and respected Konoha clans. Everyone knew just by looking at her in what way this blessing cursed her. (Although they could not tell whether it was her personality that made her status a curse or whether her curse brought about the strange mannerism and debilitating shyness.) The curse that people could not grasp, however, plagued the life of this young ex-heiress more than her status ever could. For her clan's greatest treasure, her remarkable sight, led Hinata to see more than she ever wished.

No, she did not see perverse, grotesque, or private matters that scarred her poor virgin eyes (as many persons thought for an unknown reason). No, it was the everyday happenings, the tell-all signs each person unintentionally exuded while he or she took part in the circadian interactions that life required that tore apart her being. Bluntly stated, Hinata learned to read people early in life and hated her ability to do so. She loathed seeing the twitches, the rubbing, the small tells each person had. Seeing a lover look upward while the other half of the couple spoke, the tapping of a table as a friend weaves a lie to a friend, or the biting of one's lip in pure hurt at a rejection…the visions began to destroy what little faith she had in humanity. The girl could barely retain her sanity in the midst of her constant awareness of how often people lie and hide their true feelings. What's worse, her hatred for this dishonesty only served to make her feel hypocritical. After all, she hid her feelings from the one she loved every day.

But now! No longer would she need to hide! She had finally told her love, torn the words from the depth of her heart where she had buried them for many, many years. The words had come out garbled, falling apart at the seams in an unsightly form, but they were out. Her love had been thrown into the air, waiting to be received.

…Instead it hung.

She watched, not them, but the catcher. Frozen, not from shock, but as if death had claimed him the moment her words were released. His face composed in an emotionless mask; his eyes as clear and shallow as a doll's.

Slowly, at first, her love began to fall in anticipation of the catch.

Hinata's eyes grew wide. For the first time in her life, she actively searched for a sign, his tell, that would reveal his thoughts. When she saw none…

The words fell faster, picking up speed with the acceleration of gravity.

"…Hinata…"

As if glass had crashed to the ground, his words sent sharp shrapnel through Hinata's being. Her shoulders slumped forward, her spine forming a c-curve slightly, as if she had the air knocked out of her. The world seemed off balance, as if she had all of her weight resting on one foot leaving the other feeling uncomfortably light.

The poor girl's mind began unraveling a bit, frankly, and while her reaction would seem exaggerated to any mere passerby, the pain the ex-heiress felt was tenfold. Every interaction, every shared moment (both real and imagined) the girl had shared with this boy across from her fell upon her like anvils in a cartoon. Each crushed her, certainly, but mocked her with their existence because she should have seen this conclusion. The crush never returns the sentiment after a confession.

"I—I can't." He whispered across the clearing.

Detached as she felt from the world, his voice was as clear as day. Instead of far away, it felt as if his words were said directly into her ears. Closer even; as if said from her very soul. How ironic it was that the loud-mouthed boy she had fallen in love with was reduced to nothing more than whispers. Now it was he who stuttered.

"I don't—I can't—I can't love you like that Hinata. You're my friend, closer than any other friend I have really. …We even have chemistry. If I think it out, I should love you back, I really should. …But I can't. I'm sorry."

The sorry was the fatal wound. Hinata had let him speak his truths that she should have known all along, but the last words were deadly. She tried to force herself to smile, to say "it's okay Naruto-kun." Her body betrayed her instead. The Hyuuga girl felt tears roll down her eyes and her body began to shake. Across from her, the boy winced in pain.

"Hinata…." He began to raise his arm as a means to beckon her towards him, but upon reaching the half way mark, let it fall to his side. Hinata took this gesture as a cue for her to go, turned, and left as fast as she could manage.

:( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-= :( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-= :( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-= :( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-= :( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-= :( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-= :( D: T-T :(( I-I ,'_', ;-; =-=

Sasuke was actually having fun. The avenger would certainly never admit this fact and would scowl if anyone tried to suggest such an impossible idea, but he was. Having attended very few parties, besides the few Uchiha compound celebrations he attended as a child, Sasuke hardly knew what to do with himself. What does one do at parties? He certainly was not going to go giggle and gossip with the girls or gorge himself at the snack table. The punch was definitely spiked and after a few sips, Sasuke refrained from that as well. With little other choices, he resigned himself to sit on the couches with Neji and Shino who were watching the television. Although seated in front of the bright screen, the Uchiha kept his eyes more on Naruto. The blonde was the life of the party, flitting like a humming bird from group to group. What's more, everyone welcomed him. The giggling girls joked about his antics. The adults smirked at Naruto's embarrassed face when he caught the end of an inappropriate conversation. Choji stopped stuffing food down his throat to laugh at Naruto's loud arguments with Kiba about who is stronger. Neji didn't even flinch when the blonde popped his head in over Neji's shoulder to check out the show every now and then.

Onyx eyes studied the blonde as he laughed at Lee's attempt to stay "youthful" despite his obvious exhaustion. One would never know he had just left a psychiatric hospital. No one could guess how much pain and suffering the teen had experienced throughout his short lifetime. Even Sasuke was uncertain whether or not his only friend had overcome the darkness to finally accept the bright future that was surely in store for the blonde. All that was sure was that Uzumaki Naruto was happy now. Naruto's eyes flickered his way, caught them for a moment, and he smiled. The other teen made a large show of an exaggerated yawn then went to one of the nearby chairs where he flopped onto it with a sigh. Sasuke averted his glance, pretending to watch the television, but he didn't miss a thing. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata mutter something to his friend and Naruto grinning as he stood. The sharingan wielder followed the couple with his eyes as they walked out the door, a strange burning feeling growing inside of him. The hint of a scowl fell upon his lips, but when he turned, he was face to face with Neji's questioning and suspicious stare. Sasuke coughed.

"Heartburn." Neji's eyes narrowed but he nodded curtly.

It was not long before the partygoers started calling it a night. Leavers asked where Naruto was so they could say goodbye, but no one had seen him. Sasuke had kept his eye on the door as much as possible, but hadn't seen Naruto return from his trip with Hinata. The Hyuuga didn't return either. Eventually, everyone had left but him and Itachi. Neji had been the last to leave, supposedly waiting for Hinata. Eventually though, he accepted that she had left ahead of time and bid the Uchiha pair a good night. When they were all alone, Itachi came and sat next to Sasuke on the couch.

"You seem worried Otouto." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"He hasn't returned yet. He should have."

"He will in time."

"He just got released!" Sasuke snapped while turning to stare at his brother angrily. "What if he had a run in with the villagers or something set him off. I know it's been 6 months, but it's much easier to revert to old ways than to remain strong."

"He will return Sasuke. You much trust him."

Almost as if on cue, footsteps pattered against the roof.

-_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 -_-' *_* =.= :1 :7 O.o

When Sasuke reached the roof, his heart caught in his throat. There the blonde sat, blank cerulean eyes staring out onto the treetops and one knee folded into his chest. A single gust of wind blew making the trees rustle softly and pushing Naruto's signature blonde locks onto his face, covering his eyes solemnly. Any hint of the happy go-lucky birthday boy was completely gone. In his stead, was the void being that Sasuke had hoped was gone for good.

Slowly, the Uchiha walked toward the lone figure. The whiskered teen did not react to the sound of his friend's footsteps, nor did he react when the other teen sat beside him. Neither spoke right away, on Sasuke's part because he was afraid that if he spoke, the other boy might shatter into a million pieces. Therefore, the two rivals sat. They stared at the trees, still in the ominous night.

"She told me she loved me." Sasuke almost slid down the side of the roof. "Hinata did. I know you saw us leave."

Another wind blew by, sending an eerily cold chill through Sasuke's bones. Then the feeling was replaced with an even stranger, yet familiar one. The burning returned, hot and wild in his gut, but it was rising ever so slowly.

"And?" Sasuke hoped his teammate didn't hear the instability in his voice. Naruto shook his head.

"I—I couldn't, I can't!" The blonde turned and their eyes locked. Blue eyes filled with pain and fear met black ones filled with shock. "She's perfect Sasuke! I mean, I can talk to her in a way I cannot talk to anyone else, even you. I tell her things I can't even admit to myself. She's been there all along, her love that I wasn't even aware of until tonight has helped cure me, and, and, and—"

Sasuke looked away, unable to take the boy's stare. As much as he hated himself for it, the Uchiha felt relieved. Despite all the pain evident in his only friend's eyes, Sasuke was happy he had told the Hyuuga no. Inside him, the fire had grown; the flames licked at his throat. They were consuming him.

Beside him, Naruto dropped his head into his hands. His whole body was trembling and Sasuke could do nothing but sit awkwardly by the boy's side. Suddenly, the body stopped.

"Sasuke, I have to tell you something. I have never told this to a single soul. Not Jiraiya, not Itachi, not even Hinata. Please, no matter what, just stay and hear me out, okay? Ple—Please don't hate me." The blonde choked on his own words.

Sasuke nodded his head slowly; unsure of what kind of secret could make the blonde so tormented. After all, the Uchiha had just watched him travel through the pits of hell in order to recover and could think of nothing more soul consuming than that trial. A flicker of fear went through him, but then another overwhelming feeling made him feel sick. Despite his best friend's pain—Sasuke couldn't ignore how happy he was that Naruto trusted him more than anyone else did. At this moment, Sasuke was closer to the blonde than anyone else had ever gotten. Within him, the flames flickered further.

Naruto didn't say anything. Hesitantly, he raised his head and turned to look at Sasuke again. Tears were pooling in the boy's eyes and the burning feeling overwhelmed Sasuke. The blood pumping through his veins almost made it impossible for him to hear Naruto's next words.

"I—I'm gay."

Another wind blew and the word hung in the air like a death sentence. Naruto continued to stare intently at Sasuke, tears ready to fall at any moment. Sasuke's mind had gone completely blank and he felt the fire take complete control.

"I—I couldn't tell her I loved her because I can't! I couldn't love her even though I wanted to and her face—"

Before he even realized what he was doing, Sasuke leaned over and kissed Naruto. Briefly, chastely, but with a passion that was out of the Uchiha's control. By the time Sasuke even realized that the kiss was happening, they were already pulling away. The fire inside him was hotter than the sun and Sasuke could not register anything other than the perfect blue crystals that were Naruto's now wide eyes.

Then came the punch.

Just as fast as Sasuke had kissed Naruto, Naruto had sent Sasuke flying down to the ground below with a single well-placed right hook to the left cheek. The impact was brutal and Sasuke's face burned. It took him a moment to register his new position on the ground, far from his seat on the roof. He had landed on his side, his arm taking the most of the impact and the pain came much quicker than expected. The limb sent shocks pure electricity through his body, but, in spite of the pain, he forced himself onto his back. From this prone position, Sasuke lifted his head so he could stare, dumbfounded, at the blonde who was now standing on the roof with clenched fists by his sides.

"TEME! How could you! How _could _you?" The boy's voice was cracking; his body was shaking.

"I confided in you, trusted you with my darkest secret and you do _this_? Is this a **game** to you? Am _I_ a game to you! Were you trying to test out how gay I am or did you think you could scare me out of my gayness with a kiss? How could you do this to me! You were supposed to be my friend. Now I see that you really are nothing more than a teme. Stay out of my life!"

"Naru—" Sasuke was too late. The blonde jumped off the roof and onto one of the trees nearby as he ran off.

The raven-haired man let his head drop so that his gaze faced the mocking stars above. A shaking hand came up to touch his still hot cheek, and when he realized he was trembling, he stared at his hand. In anger, he punched the dirt, and then slowly forced himself into a sitting position. He covered his eyes with his fingers.

What had he done? Had he actually _kissed Naruto_? He had _kissed_ that_ dobe_? The very same knuckle-headed ninja who had driven him crazy since their academy days? What was he thinking! Why would he even want to kiss that idiot! Very well, this kiss was not their first. Nonetheless, under no circumstances other than pure accident would the Uchiha have believed they would ever kiss again. Yet….

The teen let his hand slide from his eyes to his lips and he could almost still feel the other teen's. The Uchiha Sasuke couldn't like that dobe. The Uchiha Sasuke could never be gay. …Could he?

O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-''' O.O D: - #.# -_-'''O.O D: - #.# -_-'''O.O D: - #.# -_-''' ;)

When Itachi heard a weight equivalent to that of a body hit the ground outside the living room window, the ex-nuke nin didn't so much as flinch. As a trained shinobi, even a full ambush could not phase his cool, collected manner, and thus, he simply continued clearing the residual mess that lay as the only reminder of the party not too long ago. The older Uchiha also didn't react when his younger brother stormed into the house, allowing the door to slam behind him. Nor did he acknowledge the fact that the other Uchiha was clutching his arm and looked absolutely livid. However, Itachi was forced to react when he heard the sound of glass breaking emanating from a room down the hall, to which he responded with a sigh. He would have to speak to his brother about controlling his anger and having to replace all the household objects he breaks in the future, and now find out the cause for his distress.

Upon entering the room, Itachi was just in time to see the mattress be kicked from the bed frame and onto its side. Glass from an unfortunate lamp cracked under the shoes of its murder who stepped away from the bed, breathing heavily.

"Normally Otouto, I would scold you for keeping your shoes on in the house, but I am glad you are wearing them because you are stepping in glass." Sasuke turned his head to glare at his older brother, but his body posture remained tense. "Am I to suppose your talk with Naruto-kun did not go very well?"

Almost as if the teen was too weak to stand, the boy fell onto the empty bed frame, his head in his hands. The older male waited for his brother to speak, but when he didn't, he turned to leave.

"I messed up! I messed everything up!" Itachi stopped to listen to the low pitched growling of his younger brother. "The stupid dobe confided in me and I went and did something stupid and I don't know how I feel about it and I don't know where he's gone to and I don't know if he's okay and I don't think he ever wants to see me again."

"…I see you have a lot on your mind." Sasuke's head snapped up in order to glare at his brother, but Itachi wasn't facing him.

"I kissed him! I kissed _Naruto_." Despite what should have been a shocking revelation, Itachi remained as stoic as ever and did not so much as turn to face his distressed brother. "Did you hear me? I kissed my teammate!"

Itachi finally turned, his face as unreadable as ever.

"Was it your first kiss?" Sasuke looked confused.

"What? Well, technically no." Itachi sighed.

"I was hoping I was here for one major milestone." Sasuke leapt to his feet.

"I just kissed a boy! Do you not care! I just kissed my best friend and now he hates me."

"Courting is often the precursor to a kiss, perhaps you ought to have started there. Moreover, in reference to your shock at my lack thereof, no, I am not surprised you kissed Naruto-kun. You two obviously have had some sexual chemistry from the first time I saw you two interacting. I have known that you've liked him for a while."

"Wait how could you know tha—what do you mean 'sexual chemistry'!"

"Now Otouto, no need to get embarrassed."

"I'm not _embarrassed_!"

"If you are truly worried about him," Itachi turned to leave, "find him and give him a proper confession. Upon explanation, you might be surprised at the response." Sasuke looked at the ground.

"After all I've done, the dobe will probably not even want to listen to me, let alone like me." Itachi paused.

"If I remember correctly, it was Naruto-kun who sought you after your departure, knowing that you would not listen to him. As was true then, the two of you are connected by a bond of friendship that would take a lot more than a kiss to break. Now it is your turn to do the seeking. I hope that you find what you are looking for. Make it back before dawn."

With that, Itachi left, and within seconds, Sasuke had left as well.

o``.. (that's as close as I can get to a rabbit why I want a rabbit, I don't know XP) +=+ :/ \\: o``.. +=+ :/ \\: o``.. +=+ :/ \\: o``.. +=+ :/ \\: o``.. +=+ :/ \\: o``.. +=+ :/ \\: o``.. +=+ :/ \\: :)

He couldn't go back tonight. He couldn't go back there ever again. Naruto paced back and forth across the fourth Hokage's head. He would die before he went back to that stupid house. He would die before he saw the teme again. He would die before…

Naruto stopped pacing to look out over the village he called home. There were few lights still on at this time of the night; the time for celebration had long passed. From here, the village looked fake—like a kid's toy—because it was so miniature and the blue-eyed boy had to remind himself that there were really people in all those buildings. He was high enough to feel both powerful and extremely insignificant. Up here, he was separated from the cruel world below, but to fall would mean death even for a shinobi like him. All it would take would be three, maybe four, steps forward….

With a plop, the boy fell to his butt near the edge of the giant rock. Naruto allowed his legs to come up to his chest so that he could rest his chin against the sharp bones of his knees and continued to stare out over the village. What was he thinking just now? How quickly he reverted to his old ways. How quickly he began to think about death. It took six months to recover: one night to slip. Was he really that weak? One kiss and everything he wanted to ruin everything he'd worked for? No, he didn't truly want to die. That kiss had simply set him out of kilter.

His stomach churned and Naruto clenched his eyes shut. That kiss was still so vivid in his memory—too vivid. The feel of Sasuke's lips on his caused his whole face to burn, probably from his anger. How could the teme use him like that! Naruto thought the ex-rivals were past the insulting, the mocking. The blonde had put all his trust in the raven-haired teen and in return, he received betrayal.

After all, the kiss couldn't be anything else…as much as he wanted it to mean more. Naruto brought his hands up to clench his unruly hair. Teme! What was Naruto thinking! Sure, he was gay, but that didn't mean he liked _Sasuke_. They were friends, brothers even! Not that the boy hadn't considered liking Sasuke or being more than just friends. Yeah, he had entertained the idea once or twice on a whim, but merely out of curiosity. A "what if" if one pleased. They could never actually be together. They were teammates and there was no way the teme was gay. Of that, Naruto was sure. So that kiss…

Pure pain rushed through Naruto's veins. The kiss had been so quick, but for that brief moment, the Jinchuriki had felt completely at ease. For a moment, the tortured boy thought he might have found perfection in his flawed life. However, perfection doesn't exist in reality. As quickly, as it had come, the kiss ended and the teen realized how cruelly he had been tricked. Sasuke could never love him the way Naruto wanted. Like always, the blonde was just someone to be used as others saw fit. He was stupid for enjoying that moment, for liking that tainted kiss. He was stupid for still hoping it meant something more.

Despite how deep in thought he was, Naruto was still a shinobi and could feel someone's presence. …He simply didn't have a chance to open his eyes before a freight train tackled him. Needless to say, when he opened his eyes to find himself under a, surprisingly heavy, Sasuke, the blonde was none too happy. Before he could yell to his heart's content, however, the other teen beat him to the punch.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? You shouldn't be up here! You just got out of the hospital dobe and you're already contemplating suicide? We're going straight to Tsunade and getting you revaluated and maybe put back into the hospi—"

"Teme! I wasn't going to _kill_ myself! I was just sitting here! I used to come here to think when I was younger. What do you think _you're_ doing! Why in the world would you tackle me?"

"To keep you from jumping!"

"I WASN'T GOING TO JUMP!"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!"

"Uh, I was SITTING DOWN?" Finally, Sasuke pushed himself away from the blonde but stayed within a few inches.

"Hn." The Uchiha had to admit that it was somewhat presumptuous of him to assume Naruto was about to commit suicide if he was sitting down. After all, the dobe wasn't about to scout himself off the ledge to his death. He wasn't that desperate. Hopefully.

The two stayed silent for a long moment; Sasuke in embarrassment and Naruto in anger. In classic Naruto fashion, the Jinchuriki didn't let the silence to remain for long.

"What are you doing here anyway?" The teen snapped. "What part of staying out of my life did you not understand? Or are you so egotistic that you think you're above listening to me? After all, you must be pretty full of yourself to think you could get away with using me _and_ acting like you care if I live or di—"

"Shut up dobe!" Caught by surprise, Naruto did shut his mouth with his last word only half formed. "You don't know anything about me!"

"What's to know other than you're a selfish, arrogant—"

Just like the first time, Naruto didn't see the kiss coming. Much quicker than he could react, even with ninja speed, Sasuke had crossed the few inches between them and had forced Naruto's face closer to his own with a hand in his hair pulling him closer. This time, however, the younger teen was intensely aware of the unbelievably soft lips of the ex-avenger on his own and the fact that they remained there for a much longer period. The moment seemed to last almost too long, and the blonde couldn't move away if he wanted what with his teammate holding him place. Strangely…Naruto actually didn't want the moment to end. When they broke apart, their breathing was slightly uneven.

"What part of—shutting up can't a dobe like you—understand?" The signature coal dark orbs of the Uchiha bore into Naruto with an emotion the other had never seen in the other. "I'm not using you dobe. I never was. I had no idea why I kissed you earlier tonight; I just did it. When I kissed you, though, it was the best moment of my life. I—I have no idea what I'm doing now or why, but I know what I want."

"…which is?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You dobe. I want you." Naruto looked at his teammate dumbfounded.

"What why?" Sasuke glared.

"I just told you I don't know why! I just do, okay? You're all I can think about, you're all I care about. I only feel alive when I'm around you and it's been that way for a while now."

Naruto stared at the boy across from him intently, but neither said another word. Finally, Sasuke made an irritated face.

"So? Are you just going to stare at me like I'm crazy or are you going to say something?"

With no hesitation, Naruto leaned over and kissed Sasuke, initiating the kiss for the first time since that accidental kiss in their academy days. When they broke apart, Naruto grinned as he used to when he still wore his mask.

"You might be an arrogant teme, but you do kiss pretty good!"

^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~ ^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~ ^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~ ^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~ ^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~ ^^ :* :x ~o^.^o~ :D

When the two boys walked into the Uchiha household, awkwardness radiated off them in waves. It did not help that as soon as they stepped in, they came face to face with Itachi in beige pajamas, who sat across from the door drinking tea.

"Hello Otouto, Naruto-kun. Is all finally settled?" The boys shared a glance and were on the verge of blushing.

"Uh, what do you mean?" The blonde boy asked, raising his arm to rub the back of his head out of habit. Itachi ignored him and turned to Sasuke.

"Is this your first lover?" Both boys twitched at the word, their eyes becoming big and a shared blush finally making its way to their cheeks. Naruto coughed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and Sasuke glared as a quiet "yes" came out of his mouth as more of a hiss than as a word. Itachi suddenly brightened in a way that no man who had committed a massacre ought to and smiled in a way that would send a shiver down the most war hardened shinobi.

"Wonderful! I do get to see a milestone tonight. I am proud of you Otouto and approve of your choice. I hope that you two will be mature and safe in the future, and if my Otouto needs any advice, his big brother is here for him."

A vein started to stick out on Sasuke's forehead as he placed his hand on the small of Naruto's back and began to steer him away while muttering, "ignore him." Down the hallway, one could barely make out a little high pitch frightened sound that almost sounded like "What does he mean by safe?"

**Thus ends "You'd Be Surprised" (for real this time :P)! I'm so glad to get this chapter out, not because I am glad to be done with this story (well kind of, it's a lot of pressure writing a story), but because I'm so glad to finally deliver a full story to my fans as I wanted it. :D**

**As I mentioned before in my super heartfelt author's note at the end of the last chapter: I cannot believe what it took to get to this moment. Since the last chapter, I went to my senior prom, visited New York City for the first time (visiting Columbia University), and have graduated from high school (Class of 2012 what what!)! In the fall, I'll be embarking on the new (and somewhat scary) adventure that is college! (I'm going to Ohio State on a full ride, GO BUCKEYES!) I won't lie and say I'm not still lonely, but I'm surprised how many people I ended up getting close to in this last year. I've also come to accept the relationships that I have lost since moving. Truly, the thing I cannot wrap my mind around is how prevalent this story has been in my life up to date. It has been with me through my biggest obstacles, my biggest victories, and my biggest changes. I doubt I'll ever have a story like that again, and for that I am thankful.**

**Even more so, I am thankful to you: the readers who have been with me for the journey as well. There have been moments where I consistently refreshed my inbox hoping for reviews and times where I was afraid to open the email because the review may depress me. No matter what though, I never stopped loving you guys and, ultimately, this story was for YOU, not me. **

**You guys have been part of my huge chunk of my life and it's honestly harder to say good bye to YOU guys than it was to my senior class. I love you all so much. I hope I can write more for you soon! **

**Please keep reviewing so I can hold onto this as long as I can!**

**Love**

**VampireGaaraCheesepuffs**

**~Everything you love in ONE PenName~**


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